Human: What You Thought I Really Was
by stuckinadream
Summary: Liz's dad was killed by Voldemort when she was just a baby, but somehow she defended herself with a blue shield. Liz had nowhere to go, so Dumbledore sent her off to live with muggles in the U.S. She's different than all the other students, but why? R&R!
1. What It's Like to Die

What it's Like to Die 

**Ok, hey, this is my first Harry Potter fan fic! Yay! I love HP! If I happen to be copying anybody's stories for Harry Potter, I had no idea because so far, I have only been reading Ouran High School Host Club stories! I haven't been on this website very long. This story **_**could**_** be a crossover, but I decided not to make it that way because it is mostly Harry Potterish with a few touch ups on the movie Aquamarine (great summer movie!) and the series Emily Windsnap. You readers won't need to know anything about those two, just Harry Potter! I hope you like! **

_Crash! Crash! _I could hear the waves crashing against the shore. They were louder than usual tonight. There was going to be a big storm. I hope the waves don't crash against the shore too much. Our house was right on the beach. It was a small little house, but it was perfect for my daughter and I. I looked over at her in her crib. She was sleeping so peacefully. Elizabeth was so beautiful, just like her mother. If only her mother could see her. She would be so proud. It had been two months already. Two months since she had last seen our daughter, the most beautiful person in the world. Two months since Elizabeth had been born.

It was night time and I was so tired, but fathers have to always protect their family, and that was exactly what I was doing. I looked out the window. The sky was midnight black and gold stars shone above our home. The waves were building fast.

I loved to swim, but ever since I moved here, it's been dangerous. This beach used to be safe, you know. I'm pretty sure why it's so harmful now. Someone's upset with me. An important person. A king, actually. This beach used to be so quiet and peaceful and I loved coming here. This is where I used to come and meet my wife before we got married. That's why we built our house here. It was quiet, no other people were around to suspect anything, it brought back memories, and we could be together.

But someone had still caught and separated us. He usually came to check on Elizabeth and me. I hated him. If only I knew his name… I'd take him down if I could, but I could just sense his power – lots of it.

Looking out the window, I hadn't expected to see any figures with human resemblance, but as I looked out, I could see a dark figure strolling towards our house. The figure was wearing a cloak; that much I could tell. It was too dark to see clearly. I wasn't even sure if it was a man or a woman, but I guessed it was a man. "Oh no," I thought. _"Why does he have to come here tonight? And why is he wearing a cloak?" _ My first instinct was that he was the person who checked on Lizzie and me regularly, but looking closer, I realized this man probably wasn't him. The figure wasn't the same as his. This man was skinnier and less muscular than him. But why was he walking towards my house? Maybe he was an old friend? But how would he know that Liz and I lived here? I had to protect my poor Lizzie either way. I slowly pulled my wand from my back pocket. Ah. I hadn't used this friend in a long time.

Closer and closer he came. Now he was close enough to see some more details (from the light of the stars), and I didn't recognize him as a friend. He had tiny little eyes, but I couldn't see what color they were because he was looking down. His nose was strangely snake like and he was not smiling. I started to get real nervous now. I was pretty sure I knew who this guy was.

I wanted to shut all the lights off and hide, but that would be pointless because he could simply turn the lights back on or use his wand to create light. Then he'd find Lizzie first if I was hiding and kill her first. I was so nervous and I knew I probably would die, but I stood my ground. I would protect my daughter. That way, I'd die first. At least, if there was an afterlife, I'd already be there for her.

The door clicked. He had unlocked the door. Why was he here, anyway? What did we: me, my wife, my daughter, ever do to deserve this? I started hyperventilating. _"Oh stop!"_ I commanded myself. _"Stand your ground! You're a Gryffindor! You're brave, remember?"_

The dark, evil man slowly stepped into our two roomed home. I was right there, waiting for him: Voldemort. Yup. I wasn't even scared to use his name. I was pumped up with adrenaline and ready to fight. I was brave, I was strong. I had filled up with more self confidence than I had ever had. Voldemort didn't say a word and tried to sidestep me to get to my daughter. "Don't. You. Dare." I snarled, moving closer to Elizabeth.

He just laughed. "You think you can stand up to me?" He was still laughing, but of course, not in a nice way.

I nodded and swallowed. "Yes."

That just made him laugh harder. "You're just a scared little boy. Still a school boy."

"I'm. Not. Scared." I was trying so hard to control my anger.

"You can leave, you know. Not even get hurt. Just give me the GIRL!" He bargained.

"Not while I'm still here. _Crucio!" _

He blocked my curse. "That won't do anything, silly school boy!"

"I'm braver than you are."

"You may be brave, but you're no match for me. Now step aside!"

"NEVER!"

He somehow pushed me down and pointed his wand at Lizzie. I jumped up, adrenaline pumping like crazy. "ELIZABETH!" I shouted the loudest I ever had and started running the short distance to her to block her again. _"My only daughter, please, no!" _Voldemort stood between me and her now. "NO! PLEASE! MY ONLY DAUGHTER! WHY DO YOU WANT HER ANYWAYS! WHAT DID SHE EVER DO TO YOU? SHE'S ONLY TWO MONTHS OLD!"

"SILENCE! Someone will hear you. There are others in the area. You don't want to bring them harm, now, do you?" he asked softly. "You know, I don't have to kill you, but you're just in my way. _Avada Kedavra!" _

Tons of thoughts filled my head. _"Oh, not that curse! Please, no! Elizabeth! Please, my only daughter!" _And just one image flashed in my mind. My wife and I were sitting on a rock surrounded by water, with newborn Elizabeth in her arms. That was the last time I would ever see my family together. It's amazing how much can come into your mind right before you die in less than half a second. I was falling, but I don't remember hitting the ground. The last thing I ever saw was a flash of green light. The last thing I ever heard was a baby starting to cry.


	2. Where Dumbledore Goes on Vacations

Where Dumbledore Goes on Vacations 

**HAHA DUMBLE-YY DORE LOL THAT'S WHAT MADAM MAXIME CALLES DUMBLEDORE! I LOVE DUMBLEDORE! NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP KINDA WAY, I JUST LOVE HIS CHARATER! I THINK HE'S HILARIOUS IN THE HARRY POTTER PUPPET PALS (HPPP). OK SO IF ANY OF U FREAKS READING THIS LIKE - EHEM - LOVE OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB THEN CHECK OUT MY STORY: TOP SECRET! IT HAS A CHAPTER ABOUT HP IN THERE! HOPE YOU ENJOY CHAPTER TWO- WHERE DUMBLEDORE GOES ON VACATIONS! OH, AND SORRY IF I'M BEING TO HIPPER RIGHT NOW… I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING….! HELP! I'M TOO CRAZY RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU PROBABLY DON'T CARE. AND THANKS FOR REVIEWING! :D I LOVE WHOEVER CHOSE THIS STORY TO READ THANK YOU *BOWS* THANK YOU *BOWS* **

**3****RD**** PERSON **

Voldemort turned to Elizabeth who was crying in her crib. She didn't know who this strange man was, but she wanted her daddy to feed her and hold her and rock her back to sleep. Voldemort raised his wand. _"Avada Kedavra!"_

Green light shot right out of his wand. It barely touched Lizzie before a blue shield of light surrounded her. The curse backfired and hit Voldemort. He was pain, but he could still survive. He fled the little home on the shore and went who knows where.

After a few minutes, someone started strolling towards the house. His name was Albus Dumbledore. "Oh no! Raymond? Raymond Connor Mertonna?" he called. "Elizabeth?"

When no one called, he walked inside. There on the floor lay Raymond: dead. "Voldemort," he thought. He searched around for any sign of Elizabeth, and he finally found her in her crib, sleeping.

After a burial and a short funeral for Raymond (who was buried right by his house), Dumbledore examined Elizabeth. She looked perfectly fine except for a newborn scar on her left upper arm. "We need to get you somewhere safe," Dumbledore whispered to the poor two month girl. "Where though? Not with your mom, no. Or any of her relatives… You can't live with them. Raymond's relatives? They don't even know that you're alive! Hmm…" he thought for a while. "Well, I guess I could always bring you to the Inn I'm staying in nearby. The night's almost over anyways, and when there's daylight, I'll be able to think straight."

Dumbledore carried Liz through a little forest until they reached the Inn. When they got to his room, Albus took a drawer out of the dresser and filled it with blankets. He gently placed her in the drawer and then he went to bed.

When he woke up in the morning (only a few hours later), this was his plan: "There are some muggles who had a daughter born on the same day and year as you, but they're mourning because she died so young. But, we can fix that if we put a memory charm on them so they forget all that and make them think that you're their daughter. They wouldn't be so sad anymore. We'd have to disguise you too, or else you'll look nothing like them. I can fix that, though. The real problem is… they live in the United States. Would you still be able to come to Hogwarts when you're of age?" He questioned. "If I'm Headmaster, it'll be fine."

He held the baby in his arms and said a complicated spell. She went from blond hair and aqua colored eyes to a baby with brown hair and brown eyes in an instant. "Don't worry," he whispered. "You're still the same person. You just look different."

On her arm, it didn't look like a lightning bolt scar anymore. Instead, it looked more like a red blob of a birthmark.

Once the baby had an uncomfortable first experience of appariting, Dumbledore fixed everything and left the baby there. "Elizabeth, I'll see you when you're ready. I'll make sure you come to my school. I have lots to teach you."

**Ok so sorry about my authors note at the top. I never meant it when I called you freaks! :D It was a little crazy but I was so hipper then and I have no clue why. It could have been that I only had sugar for breakfast… I am also sorry if this chapter was too short and jumbled up a lot. I usually like giving lots of details because I want to know exactly how it happened and I want my readers to know that too but I didn't really do that in this chapter. Anyways, hoped you liked it! By the way, if you really care, I actually have slept in a drawer when I was two months old, because at the hotel my family was staying at, they didn't have a crib! And, um, can you guys please tell me if you like short chapters or long chapters better because I usually write short ones, so would you rather have long chapters and fewer updates or short chapters and quicker updates (even if my quick updates aren't that quick)? Please let me know! Thanks :D**


	3. Over the Years

Over the Years

Liz learned to grow up and live these American muggles. She never remembered anything about her original life. She knew herself as brown haired, brown eyes, and named Elise. She was a normal with a family who loved her. She also had a younger brother named Connor who was two years younger than her, and a mother and a father, who weren't divorced like most parents were these days. She also thought her background was 75% French Canadian and 25% Italian, and she loved it that way. The French Canadians didn't really have a strong culture difference from America like Africa or Japan, but Elizabeth noticed all the things. The styles of the Canadian's homes in the states almost looked like a frontier type house, which seemed very home-y to Liz. Her adoptive family dad played his guitar and sang in a Folk Group choir at her French Catholic church (Catholic church but has masses in French too) and every year, they would have a party at the leader's house, Sue, in the summertime. Liz and her adoptive brother, Connor, swam every year in their pool, even though they now had their own pool at their house. It was a tradition to swim there.

Everyone brought something to eat, Sue made salad, and her husband, Ray, cooked on the grill. While everyone ate, they shared stories of them growing up in Canada and what their life was like. Things weren't as advanced in Canada (mainly New Brunswick) as it was in the United States, so things were a lot different there. For instance, everyone owned wood stoves, had lots of children, had no running water or heat, and no toilets. They told stories about the government saying every house needed a toilet, put one right in the middle of the house, and put a curtain around it. Liz loved these stories, even if they were gross or weird **(these are stories from people who used to live in New Brunswick, like, thirty years ago)**.

After meal and dessert time, which the Priest had blessed if he was there, came the singing. Liz adoptive dad and Sue would get out their guitars and sing songs with the rest of the group. Connor, Ray, Liz, and her muggle mom wouldn't sing, but Liz listened to them the most. The songs she usually didn't know, but she smiled anyway, her favorite song of the ones they sang, though, was a song they sang every time, and it reminded her of when she was younger. She never knew all the words, but she hummed the tune quietly to herself as they sang happily.

Liz loved Christmas time, too. That time of year was so happy and loving. When she was younger, she loved the snow, but as she got older, she thought it was too messy and cold. New Year's Eve was great in her family too. It was a tradition that they would "camp out" in their living room. They would make a fire in their fireplace, eat hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, and cheetos and watch a movie. They would set up air mattresses and sleep in that room, only to wake up to eat nice, warm, cinnamon buns for breakfast. The cinnamon buns were also a tradition to eat every morning of a holiday. The New Year's Eve tradition started during an ice storm where they had lost power and had to stay in the living room for warmth by the fireplace for three days until the power came back on.

Liz loved summer, too. It was her favorite season. She didn't have to go to school, her birthday was in July, it was warm, and she got to swim. Liz loved swimming so much. She always felt so natural about it. One thing that never changed about her as she was growing up was the beach. She loved anything and everything that had to do with the beach – from beach-y clothes to sand. Whenever Liz was at the beach, it felt like she was at home. When she went in the water, it felt like she never, ever wanted to get out. It almost felt like there was something pulling her to explore deeper and deeper into the ocean, but her family wouldn't let her go too far. Her love of the beach never changed – in fact, it only got bigger and bigger as she grew older and older. When her family had to leave the beach, it felt like she was forgetting something or leaving something behind, but she didn't know what.

One fine July night, all was still in Liz's house. Everyone was sleeping, but of course, Liz woke up when a popping noise sounded. She was a light sleeper. With that pop, or maybe that pop was caused by, a person: an old man, now standing in Liz's small bedroom by her window. He had long, gray hair and a beard, both down to his lower back, twinkling blue eyes, a smile, half moon glasses, a pointy hat, and a long, flowing blue robe. Liz opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He put his finger to his mouth and uttered a few words, taking out a long, stick-like object. "Elizabeth, it's so good to see you again."

"M-m-my name's not Elizabeth, it's Elise!" Liz stuttered.

"You only _think_ your name is Elise."

"H-huh? W-who are you? And w-wh-why are you here? What'd you do?"

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm here to explain something important to you. And don't worry. All I did was put a charm on your house so no one can hear us. They wouldn't understand what we're talking about."

This made Liz more nervous, if that was even possible. "Elizabeth, you are very special. You're magical. And magical kids need to learn how to control themselves. Did you ever do something that didn't seem right? Think about it. I can see you don't believe. Not yet."

He smiled and let her think. His eyes twinkled gently as he waited.

What about that time when all the kids were swinging on the swings and then jumping off to see how far they'd go? Liz thought back to when she was younger. She had jumped, soared over to the other side of the yard, and landed perfectly in the center of the pool. That was strange. How about the time when she was wishing everything was blue, and she accidently dyed her hair that color while just sitting on her bed, wishing? Her hair had turned back to her usual brown the next day. Or maybe when she could always feel like something had happened before, even though it didn't, or how sometimes she knew things before it actually happened, like when she screamed while playing baseball before the ball actually hit her shin. "Oh," was all she said.

"Oh," Dumbledore repeated, smiling. "You're a witch, Elizabeth."

"A witch? I'm not _that_ mean! And my name's Elise!"

"To be a witch doesn't necessarily mean the person is bad. A wizard is good, right? A witch is just the girl form of a wizard."

"So, basically, I'm a girl wizard."

"Yes."

"_How could he expect me to remain calm?"_ Liz thought.

"I have to give you this," Dumbledore told Liz, handing her a tan envelope with emerald colored writing.

She opened it slowly. Inside, she found a letter saying she was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There was also a paper saying all the things she would need, like a wand and books. "Here," Dumbledore said, handing her a cloth bag. "We give this out to people who can't afford things we ask for. You only get a limited supply, so use it well. And this is your birthday money. I knew it was coming up," he added with a wink, handing her another cloth bag.

"_How does this guy know me?"_ Liz thought.

"Ah, yes."

Dumbledore picked up a doll off the floor. "Take care of her, ok? She'll be attending Hogwarts as well."

"A _doll_?" I asked him.

Dumbledore took out his wand again, murmured a few words, and suddenly, it was life sized. Her clothes seemed to grow with her. She had wavy brown hair down to her shoulders, bangs, and pretty brown eyes. "Hey, my name's Samantha, but you can call me Sam or Sammie."

"It talks! What did you _do_?"

"She's alive, Elizabeth."

"Oh," she felt rude now.

She blushed. "Hi, I'm Elise."

"I thought he just said your name was Elizabeth?"

"No, it's Elise."

"Oh, is it?" Dumbledore questioned. "Well, this letter is addressed to Elizabeth A. Mertonna, so if that's not you, I guess you can't come…"

"Ok, I'm confused, but I _told_ you that you had the wrong person."

"But I don't. You're magical."

"Ok, then my name is Elizabeth," she sighed, giving in.

"_Boy is he persistent," _she thought.

"Samantha here is one of the few who have the ability to transform into doll form. It's great when you're under attack, you know," Dumbledore explained. "It's almost like animargi, when you transform into animals, but this ability you're born with. There are actually many from your generation that will be attending Hogwarts with you. Also, I can't tell your, uh, family where exactly you are going, but don't worry, we'll figure something out."

Liz was very confused and found all of this very strange, but he just said, "Until next time," undid the charm on the house, and was gone.

Sam looked at Liz. "Well, good night!" and with that, she was back into a doll again.

Liz didn't think her brain could process everything, and she wanted to think about what just happened, but her eyelids were too heavy. "It's just a dream, just a dream…" she murmured as she slowly drifted off into a quiet, peaceful sleep.

**Ok sorry if this chapter was too weird, confusing, crazy or random! I'm also sorry that the first two chapters were very short and that this one took sooooo long to post. I actually had major writer's block with this story, but I think it's better now. I have the plot lines written out for the whole entire story! Please review! And thank you to the special 3 that already have! :D**


	4. Liz Has a Diary!

Liz Has a Diary!

**Disclaimer: I am **_**DEFINITELY**_** not smart enough to own Harry Potter. 'Nough said.**

The next morning when Liz woke up, she sighed, stretched, and looked out her window. She remembered her dream now. "Ok, that was the strangest dream yet," she thought out loud.

She knew she had tons of crazy, weird dreams, but who doesn't? "First, some random guy who looked like, 150 years old pops in my room out of nowhere and tells me I'm a witch and my name is Elizabeth, and then he tells me I'm going to some wizard school, gives me money, knows when my birthday is – is he a stalker? And then he tells me my doll is human, she turns life sized, and she can –"

"Hey, Elizabeth! You're up, I see. Man, was I tired last night. Hey, can I call ya Liz? Or maybe Lizzie! Ooh, what's your middle initial!"

"– talk," Liz finished in shock. "Guess it wasn't a dream then…"

She stared at the doll – I mean, person that Liz remembered being called Sam. "Well, I thought my middle initial was R, but I also thought my name was Elise…"

She grabbed the envelope off the floor. "Hmm…that's strange…"

Liz was staring at the Hogwarts symbol: A raven, a snake, a beaver, and a lion surrounding a capital H. Under the H it said: Drago Dormiens Nunquam Titilladus. She flipped it over and read: Elizabeth A. Mertonna. "Well, I guess my middle initial is A," Liz told Sam.

"Liz A!" Sam proclaimed. **(A/N: She said it like: Lizzay)** "Sa-weet! That sounds cool!"

"Heh, heh, yeah…" Liz just went along with it.

Until she would go to Hogwarts, Liz decided to finally use some of the journals (she refused to call them diaries) she'd gotten last year for Christmas and write down what happened in her family. She got up and wrote down what she remembered from the night before, and everyday leading up to the day she would leave to go to England.

The Story of ME, Elizabeth Mertonna

Friday, August 1st

One hot night in the first week of August, I was half asleep when it felt like someone was staring at me. I open my eyes and an old man is staring. His hair is white and it goes down to his waist. His beard is about the same length. He has bright, twinkling, blue eyes, half moon glasses, and a crooked nose. He is wearing these long black robes and it looks like he's from the 1300s or something. He's also wearing a wizard's hat. I try to scream, but I'm too startled, surprised, and scared at the same time for any sound to come out.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a long, smooth, fancy, wooden stick. He points it at my parent's room and my brother's room and utters a few words. Then, he sits down on my bed. He says, "Elizabeth, it's so good to see you again."

Then I tell him that I'm _not _Elizabeth, I'm Elise, and ask him why he's in my room, why he's there, and what he did to my parent's and my brother's rooms.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm here to explain something important to you. And don't worry. All I did was put a charm on your house so no one can hear us. They wouldn't understand what we're talking about."

His voice is quiet and calm, and he speaks in an English accent. What he said to me made me even more nervous, if that was even possible. "Elizabeth, you are very special. You're magical. And magical kids need to learn how to control themselves. Did you ever do something that didn't seem right? Think about it. I can see you don't believe. Not yet."

What he said then made me believe as I thought back into the past, my mind filling with strange events that I had put to the back of my mind. All I could say was "oh," but he looked happy about that. Then he called me a witch, but I guess it's not supposed to be bad. A witch is just a girl form of a wizard…to him I guess. He acted like I was supposed to be calm or something.

Then he handed me a tan envelope with emerald writing on it. He also gave me a bag full of strange money saying I wouldn't be able to afford anything without it. He also gave me another bag of the strange money saying it was for my birthday that was coming up. I still don't know how _he_ knows when my birthday is.

This guy, Dumbledore, turned my doll into a _human_ and her name is Samantha, or just plain Sam. After that, he _finally_ convinced me my name was Elizabeth and not Elise. Elizabeth's not that bad of a name, after all. He tells me for some reason I can't tell my family where I'm really going, which made me a _little _suspicious. After that, he basically left like nothing happened and I fell asleep.

Saturday, August 2nd

The very next day, my parents get a letter by mail saying that I have a full scholarship to attend a huge and expensive private school somewhere in England. It also comes with a plane ticket for August 14th. My parents couldn't believe it was actually true, so they had to check online and by phone. All I could think about was the strange man from last night. That's _13_ days from now. I can't believe it still. When I woke up, I thought it was just a dream, but Sam reminded me by talking really fast, already life sized and moving around my room. Guess it wasn't a dream! And my parents are really proud and amazed of me. They wrote to like, _everyone _we know by email and they called and talked to other people for _hours!_ I called my friends, and they said they'll really miss me. I'll miss them soo much too, but at least I already have 2 new friends at this new school, Hogwarts, while my parents think it's some other school for what Sam calls 'muggles.' Let me explain. This morning, Sam showed me that one other doll I own is also a person that can transform into doll form at will. I think it's cool, but also weird that I have been living with two other girls for over 5 years and I never even knew! The other girl has shoulder length red hair, dark blue eyes, and freckles. Her name is Neilla, but she says to call her Nell. Today they're all coming over for a leaving party. I'll really miss them. :c

Before my friends come, I go back up to my room and pull out Nell and Sam. They transform into their human selves and we start talking. We talk about tons of different things. I feel some strange closeness to them because we've lived with each other for so long. We become really good friends that day. It turns out Sam and Nell have been friends for a while. They were neighborhood friends before they were sent to live with me disguised as dolls under Dumbledore's orders. I wonder why but Sam and Nell don't know either. They're neighborhood actually was one of those remakes of historical towns, so they knew all these tasks form the early 1900s, like sewing and the way they were supposed to dress. Samantha owned a large house, or actually, a mansion with her grandmother. Her parents had died when she was little. She met Neilla when her family came to live with her aunt that was rich and lived in Sam's neighborhood. Her aunt was mean, and only wanted her family there to work for her without getting paid. One autumn about two years ago, Nell's parents died from the flu. They had a doctor, but the fever was too strong and the medicine only helped a little. A few days later, her parents died. Nell and her two sisters, Bria (9 years old) and Carlin (7 years old) went to leave with their uncle who treated them poorly and left them to starve. At the time, Sam had moved to New York to live with her favorite uncle who had recently gotten married, and she invited Nell and her sisters to live with them. I couldn't believe they had told me this on the first full day with them, but it looked like they needed to get it out and tell someone.

I still haven't looked at the list of things I need for this unique school, but I will have to tomorrow. My friends are here now!

Sunday, August 3rd

The next morning, I look at the school list. It's confusing to me. I don't know half the things that are on there! I'll ask my new friends sometime. But until I have to leave on the plane, I want to spend some time with my family. Today for the entire day, we just hang out together. In my family, it's fun just being altogether once in a while. We're planning on going to a lot of places before I leave, like some of the places I wanted to go this summer. We got invited to stay at our friend's house in New Hampshire and with my aunt and uncle in New Brunswick, Canada. Yippee! I can't wait to go to Canada again! It's been 2 years! It's not really counted as a vacation since we are just visiting family members, but I love it anyways. We're also planning to go to Block Island (a small island in Rhode Island) and an indoor water park! So much fun! I can't really wait 'til August 14th even though I'm going to miss everybody. I want to see what this magical school is like! :D

Monday, August 4th

My school list says things like a wand, robes, books, and an animal if I want to bring one. There are a lot of other things too. I think I'm going to get an owl with the birthday money I got from Dumbledore. That might work. Same thing again today: I spend most of my day with my family and the other part with my new friends. That's basically it. Not much to say except I will miss everyone and I'm nervous, anxious, and excited.

Tuesday, August 5th

Today, my family and I went to Block Island. We spend our whole day at the beach every time we go. I couldn't wait to get there! We take the high speed ferry called the Block Island Express and it takes an hour to get there. The day seems so short every time, but we take the earliest ferry there and the latest one back. Tomorrow, we are going to the indoor water park which I can't wait for either, and then we are staying overnight in a nearby hotel. The next day, we go to the water park again. The two days after that, we're going to New Hampshire, and the last four days we are spending in Canada. I think about my cat very often now. I will probably miss him as much if not more as my family.

We've been at the beach for a while now. It's great! I love riding the waves! The beach is one of my favorite places to go. I love the water. Connor and I have dug a _huge_ hole and we can sit in it! We also made big sand castles. That was fun. I usually have dreams about a large castle underwater. I know dreams can be wild and make no sense, but that would be so cool if there actually was a place.

It's now time to go. Whenever we leave, I always feel like I'm forgetting something: something more than a toy or a souvenir, but I have to leave. The ferry will be back in half an hour and we need to walk far to get back to the dock. I follow my family back to the tunnel away from the beach.

Wednesday, August 6th

Wahoo! I can't wait to see this water park! It's going to be great!

When we finally get there, I'm amazed. The building's huge. I walk in and I'm surrounded by tons of pools. Some have water slides that slide into the pool and the other slides are just for swimming. They all have awesome shapes. My favorite pool is in the shape of a dolphin. I love swimming. It's always seemed to come naturally to me. In the corners, they have food booths. The food is good! We spend the whole day swimming and sliding down the slides. Even my dad goes in, even though he doesn't really like water.

The day went by so fast! I'm glad we get to go back tomorrow. We get in our van and drive for about 10 minutes. The hotel is very close to the indoor park. We go up and unpack our stuff, brush our teeth, and go to bed. I can't wait for tomorrow! It's so much fun! I love the water!

Thursday, August 7th

Today, we get up and pack. We bring it downstairs, check out of the hotel, and put the stuff in the van. We drive to the park and stay most of the day again, only today, we leave earlier so we can arrive in New Hampshire tomorrow morning. I can't wait for that either!

Friday, August 8th

My dad's friends live in New Hampshire. I met them just a few years ago, but they're really nice. My dad likes them because he can trust them. Paula is so sweet and kind, and Ken is talkative and funny. Their house is small and cozy, especially in the winter. They have a wood stove which keeps the house warm and toasty. This was my first time being there in the summer. I'm gonna go feed their sheep! Paula loves sheep and they have enough land to own them. Whenever we finish a meal there, we take a walk along the perimeter of their property. I love animals so much, but my favorites would have to be sea creatures.

Saturday, August 9th

Yeah, this visit was short but nice and relaxing. It still doesn't beat the beach, though! We go to their town's cute little church, come home and eat, and then my dad and Ken sing and play the guitar for a while as Paula teaches Connor and me how to spin wool. Pretty cool! Right now, we're in their awesome basement which is basically like a mini apartment. Ah, this bed is so cozy! I think I'm just gonna put on my PJ's and – (note 1 day later: I fell asleep writing that)

Sunday, August 10th

We got up early this morning, put everything in the car, said our thank –you's and goodbyes, and drove up to New Brunswick, Canada (btw it took 9 hours). I'm surprised my family is doing this. We barely travel at all, and we never do this much in a row!

Now, I'm sitting on a cozy couch in my Aunt Nicole and Uncle Paul's living room. We always stay at their house. My mom and my dad share a room and Connor and I share a room: the dolphin room. It's got dolphins (my favorite animal) everywhere! Connor and I take turns sleeping on the bed while the other sleeps on the floor. I'm sleeping on the floor tonight. That way, on the last night, I can have the bed! Plus, Connor likes the floor mattress! He's weird…yes, we all know. :D

Monday, August 11th

Only three more days 'til I'm in England! I'm sort of nervous about it.

I love the smell of the air here. For some reason, it smells different, like cleaner and more refreshing. Today, we're going to visit my _Memere_, which means grandma in French. Later, my aunt is having a "surprise" party for us (I know she is – she does it every time) and my dad's old friends are coming, along with some of his brothers, sisters, and other relatives, like my dad's brother's daughters who are super shy. I thought I was shy but they hide behind their mom and they're older than me! I used to get them to play Bratz dolls with me when I was younger, but I gave up after a while. If I ever got them to play, there would be an awkward silence because they only knew French and I only knew English.

Jeez, I just had a creepy thought. What if all those times when I was younger when I played with dolls they were actually _HUMANS!_ I'm gonna close this notebook now and pretend I never said or thought _anything_ about that idea. I sleep on the bed tonight. :p

Tuesday, August 12th

2 more days! Today we go to visit some more relatives, go grocery shopping (and buy these AWESOME amazingly tasting New Brunswick cakes!) see a few sights, shop a little, visit my memere again , and visit some more of my dad's friends (he has lots). My aunt has a costume business goin' on, so my brother and I will probably dress up funny. Everyone loves it – as long as we don't make a mess. I sleep on the floor tonight. :O

Wednesday, August 13th

Trips to Canada with my family always seem _way_ too short (cuz they are), but this one seems even shorter (cuz it is) because I know I probably won't be able to see anyone, not even my brother or my parents, for a long time because I'll be in England! We say our goodbyes, thank- you's, I'll-miss-you-so-much's, and our good-luck's today. We also have another party (with NB cakes! Mmmmm….) and we pack today. We leave early tomorrow morning to go back to our hometown at the airport to go to England. Wow, my family sounds so rich! I never knew this would actually happen. Yeah, tomorrow's going to be hectic alright! I sleep on the bed tonight! Ah…nice, comfy, poufy bed…

**Hey you lovely readers! I know this chapter was kinda long, boring and pointless, but yeah. I hope this isn't too confusing either! I heard the last chapter was. Sorry! I have a mind of my own! Haha I guess that's a good thing…or is it! This chapter was something I came up with actually when I was 12 years old. I had no idea about this website yet, but I knew I wanted to go to Hogwarts and also knew I couldn't because I had already passed 11 years old (so sad). Instead, I decided to come up with some character! These diary entries were the things I wrote back then. I thought it was weird to write my own diary entries, but I thought it was "cool" from another POV. That's when this story came alive! I just add a few **_**minor**_** details (sarcasm at the word minor) as I post this on here! :D the settings in this chapter are partly real and partly from dreams I'd had. I definitely have weird dreams! Just last night, I had **_**another**_** dream about getting high on raspberries! That makes 3 dreams about that so far! I hope that's not like, my biggest fear or something now, cuz people say dreams are your secret obsession (oh no! Please don't make my secret obsession be getting high on RASPBERRIES! Nooo!) or your biggest fear. The extra characters in this chapter aren't really important. They're also partly from dreams and partly real. The important characters so far are:**

**DUMBLEDORE! (Duh, all the people from the original story are important)**

**LIZ! Of course :D**

**Sam!**

**And….**

**NELL!**

**And maybe Sam, Nell's, and Liz's adoptive and actually family too, but I haven't decided yet if they are going to have an important role**

**TA-DA! Review please! Sorry it's boring but it will get better as soon as they get to England (next chapter)! I will promise to update sooner than my soon (which isn't really soon) :D But I'll try!**


	5. The Leaky Cauldron

The Leaky Cauldron

**Hey it's meee! xD Thank you to Sapphy Mizuiro, shootforthestars, and dreamaker401 for reviewing! You all get cyber cupcakes with butter cream frosting! Mmmm... **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be a billionaire! Lol I WISH! Anyways, R&R: the usual. **

**Liz's POV**

"Do you have everything?"

"Yup," I sighed.

I kept looking around the house, looking at everything. I still couldn't get over it. Some random guy who calls himself a wizard pops in my _room and tells me where to go and I don't even want to!_ It made me so angry.

I had to use two whole suitcases to pack everything, plus an extra large carry-on. I didn't want to leave _anything_ behind. I packed lots of clothes, books, my iPod, more books, that journal I wrote in, my teddy bear I sleep with, and lots more.

Earlier today, Sam and Nell made me throw them out of my window so they could go back home, get their stuff, and meet me at the airport.

I said by to everything one last time: the walls, posters and pictures, the floor, the tables, chairs, beds…yes, I meant everything. The main things I said bye to were my cat, my family, and my pool – the things I loved the most here that couldn't come with me.

At the airport I went through security and everything. I said by to Connor and my parents for the 500 time at the gate. My mom was crying and I was close to tears. I never cried easily, but I would miss them. Connor and my dad were acting tough, but they gave me lots of hugs and kisses.

I found a seat and sat down. This was my first time flying alone. I took a deep breath. "Hey Liz A!"

"How's it goin'?"

I looked up. Only one person called me Liz A. "Hey you guys!"

Sam sat on my left and Nell sat on my right. "Long time no see!"

We all laughed nervously. This was their first time flying without adults, too.

On the plane we actually got to sit next to each other. There were rows of four. We also had to sit next to some old fat guy who wore suspenders and huge glasses and snored the _whole_ time. Sam and Nell were not used to this because they'd only flown 1st class before.

"Ok," said Nell, pulling out a letter. "It says we're supposed to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, which just says is in London. Jeez, that's helpful," she said sarcastically.

Sam bent over. "It also says there will be other Hogwarts students he wants us to meet."

I bent over. "It's from _that_ guy," I sighed, reading the signature at the end; Albus Dumbledore.

For some reason, I always felt angered by him.

Finally, after 6 hours, we made it. The airport we arrived in was in London, so we grabbed our luggage and searched for this Leaky Cauldron place. My first time in London and people were staring at me. Well, they should be! We were lugging 8 suitcases through the crowded city: 2 for me and 3 each for Sam and Nell. "Hmm…where could it be?" Sam asked.

I looked around. "I'm guessing it's the huge, black, run-down, out of place shop right there that the people are avoiding with the huge 'Leaky Cauldron' sign on it, but it's just a guess."

"Yup! That's it!" Nell exclaimed, sounding excited that we found it.

It wasn't like it was that hard to find. Everything about this trip was weird, so just look for a weird place!

We walked in, "A bar!"  
Suddenly, a man was right behind us. "Bar and Inn, miss. What can I do for you?"

I jumped. Sam was looking shocked. She was probably used to some huge, fancy hotels in New York city or something. Nell knew better. "We're here to stay until Hogwarts starts."

"Ah, yes. Do you want to share a room, you three?"

We all looked at each other. "That'd be wonderful," Sam told him.

The man led us to a room with 3 beds. "If you need any assistance, I'll be downstairs. My name is Tom."

I gasped. "And my name's Elizabeth!"

What I said caused him to look very confused and slightly hurt. "Just ignore her," Sam told him, covering my mouth, as the bowed and left the room. I struggled free. "Hey! Just ignore me! What the he-"

"Shut it you guys. I'm tired," Nell complained, throwing herself on the bed by the window.

Sam ran over and jumped on the bed in the middle, leaving me to the bed closest to the door. "Humpback much?" Sam commented on Tom's slouched figure.

We all laughed and eventually drifted off into a night full of dreams and excitement without even changing or anything.

**Yea blah! I know this chapter's short, but I already have the next one ready to type! It's longer than the others, so I just decided to cut it off here. I know the ending sucks :D K review please! The next chapter will be up very soon, I promise.**


	6. April and Athena

April and Athena

**Hi. Yes, I know the last chapter was short and pointless but this one isn't! XD so read and review please! **

The next morning we got up, got dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast. I guess even witches and wizards eat normal foods!

Then Nell took us out back. "Why are we here?" I asked, staring at the brick wall before us.

Sam pulled out the letter from Dumbledore. "Hey, look! A picture!" Sam pointed to a drawing of the wall. "It says point to the number," she said as Nell examined the wall. "The number is near the bottom. It says '3 up, 2 across'…Huh?"

Someone else walked in. "Excuse me," she said, pulling out her wand. "One, two, three," she mumbled, pointing her wand three bricks up. "One, two," she mumbled again as she moved two bricks across.

She tapped the brick she left off on. It quivered and wiggled and then a small hole in the middle of the wall appeared. It grew larger and larger until it was an archway leading into a stone street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Whoa!"

The lady walked away and was eventually out of sight too. "Let's go!" an excited Sam exclaimed, pulling Nell and I in.

As soon as we got in, the archway turned back into a solid wall. "Well, I guess this is Diagon Alley," I said, reading the letter over Sam's shoulder.

We were all amazed. The nearest shop sold cauldrons, apparently. There was a sign: "Cauldrons – All sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-Stirring – Collapsible" above a stack of them.

We all took out our lists. "We need a cauldron, but this note says we have to go to the bank first. We need money. The bank is called Gringotts.

"Um," I said, embarrassed. "I already have my money." I pulled out the bags of coins. "But, I can still come with you guys!"

"Ok!"

We looked in every direction, trying to see everything we possibly could while also looking for Gringotts. We saw an ice cream shop, an Apothecary, a store that sold owls, broomsticks, and lots of other unique places. I even watched the other people dressed in weird ways walking in every direction. I was interested in the broomstick store. There was a slick broomstick in the window and people were crowding around it, saying something about a Nimbus Two Thousand, whatever that meant.

The other shops I saw included shops selling robes like the ones people were wearing all around us (which made me feel uncomfortable in a t-shirt and ripped jeans), shops selling telescopes and strange silver interments I'd never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of things called bat spleens and eels' eyes, piles of spell books, quills, rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes or Mar and the moon – "That's it!" said Nell, pointing to a huge white building.

When I say huge, I mean gigantic. It towered over all the other little shops.

As we walked up the many white stone steps, I noticed something standing by the huge bronze doors. "Eww! What's that?"

"It says here this place is run by goblins, so that must be what it is," Nell told everyone, relying on that letter we really seemed to need. As we walked through the doors, he bowed, which made me feel rich. There were another set of doors that were silver now, with these words written on them:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors,_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware _

_Of finding more than treasure there._

This was no doubt the fanciest bank I'd ever been to. We walked in a huge marble hall to find lots more goblins sitting on high stools behind a long counter. There were so many doors all the way down the hall; I'd never be able to count them. More goblins were showing people in and out of them.

"Hello," Nell said to a free goblin. "Um, we're here to take money out of our safes."

"Do you have your keys, miss?"

Sam and Nell pulled their keys out of their back pockets of their designer jeans. "I'm with them," I said.

The goblin nodded and examined the keys. "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Hammerhead!"

Hammerhead turned out to be another goblin with a slightly square head. We followed him through one of the doors. Now were in a narrow stone passageway lit by torches. It sloped down on the floor. Strange…

Hammerhead whistled and a small cart came hurtling towards us. We climbed in and it took off. Nell, Sam, and I screamed in excitement. It was just like a rollercoaster. Hammerhead glared at us, but it was so fun! He wasn't even steering the cart. We passed an underground lake and something that looked like fire – maybe it was a dragon! But I couldn't tell.

The cart stopped. We arrived at Sam's vault: Five Hundred and Ninety Nine. She opened it up to find huge stacks and piles of gold, silver, and bronze. "Whoa," we all gasped.

I guess Sam was rich in both worlds.

Next, it was to Nell's vault. "Can you go a little faster please?" we asked.

"One speed only," replied Hammerhead.

"Awww…."

We went further and further down, screaming the whole way.

We got out once again at vault Seven Hundred and Fourteen. The vault on its left looked different from all the others, but I didn't question it. Nell's pile was barely a foot high and a foot across.

Once Nell got her money too, we took a cart ride back and found ourselves standing outside Gringotts once more. We were walking down the stairs when Nell elbowed both of us. "Ow! What!" Sam and I asked her.

"Look!" she whispered.

She was looking at two little girls, hugging each other. They looked about 5 years old with shoulder length straight brown hair, brown eyes, and bangs. They wore matching outfits that looked worn out and dirty. It was obvious they were twins – they were like mirror images of each other. I saw no adults around so I walked over to them. "Hi, I'm Eli- I mean, Liz," it was hard getting used to my actual name.

They looked up. "What are you guys doing?" I asked politely.

"We're waiting for our parents," the one on the right replied, and the other one nodded.

"Oh, where are they?" I asked.

"Li-iz," Sam exaggerated my name quietly, pulling on my shirt. "What are you doing…?"

"Where are they?" I repeated, ignoring Sam.

"Well, Mommy and Daddy were telling us stories," the girl on the left said, staring off into the distance.

"When some stranger walked in," continued the girl on the right. "We were scared, so we hid."

"And then there was screaming and Mommy and Daddy fell asleep on the floor!"

We looked at each other. "They left for a while, so we snuck out of the house!"

"They looked funny. Their eyes were open!"

Nell's eyes widened at what they said. "Do you want to come with us while we wait for them to wake up?" I asked them. "We promise we're friendly."

"Liz!" Sam whispered. "You know they can't wake u-"

"Yes Sam, I _know_!" I whispered back, cutting her off.

"Um… ok! Can we go shopping?" one of them asked.

"Of course! That's what we're here for, isn't it?" Sam asked.

"Ok!" they both smiled, jumping up.

"I'm Athena!" the girl on the right said.

"And I'm April!"

We introduced ourselves too. We took their little tiny hands. "Do you like ice cream?" Sam asked.

20 minutes later, the five of us were sitting outside that ice cream shop I saw earlier with our ice cream cones.

After that, Sam, Nell, and I pulled out our lists. "Ok, so we need a uniform, books, a wand, a cauldron, a set of glass or crystal phials…?, one telescope, a set of brass scales, and an animal if you want. Let's go!"

In the cauldron store, we walked up to a cubby guy behind the counter with a bald head and a mustache. "What can I do for yeh ladies?" he asked.

"I'll take a standard size 2 pewter cauldron please," Sam said knowingly.

"Used o' new?"

"New please."

"I'll have the same only used please," Nell added.

"Used for me too, please," I added to that.

"ME TOO!" April and Athena shouted at the same time.

"No, no," I hushed them. "You'll get one when you're older, I'm sure."

"YAY!"

Next, we got all our books:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble

Sam got them all new, Nell got some used and some new, and I got them all used. Dumbledore told me to use my money wisely, and for once, I was.

Then we got our brass scales, our crystal phials (I got glass instead) and our telescopes. We also found trunks that most Hogwarts students use, so we got them. Those were definitely hard to lug around. It was the only thing new I'd gotten so far.

Then we went to get our robes, and Sam and Nell got theirs while I looked at the used ones they had on display. I was going to get them used, but they didn't fit right, so I had to get the lady to fit new ones for me.

"Now, all we need is a wand!" I said excitedly, pointing at a sign that was peeling and hanging over the door: "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." It was a very narrow and shabby shop. No one could wait to get their wands.

We walked in and the door made a tinkling sound as it closed. For some reason, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. "Good afternoon," said a soft voice from behind.

Everyone jumped. "Hi," we said, turning around.

"Looking for a wand?" the man asked.

I guessed he was Mr. Ollivander, and I noticed his eyes never seemed to blink. I don't think I'd ever seen silver eyes before, but they were creepy.

"Yes, please," Sam and Nell said.

"Can I get a used one?" I asked.

He gasped. "No, no, no! The wand chooses the wizard, after all."

I loved how they all talked with English accents. I had been wondering, was there one of these wizard schools in America? If so, why were we here?

"Ah, Samantha Paradiso, I remember your parents coming here to buy their fist wands."

"You do?" Sam asked in wonder and astonishment.

"Yes," he responded slowly. "I remember every person and the wands they got here. Your mother's wand: nine and a half inches, swishy, made of Redwood. Great for protection and maintaining focus. Your father's wand was quite different. He had a rosewood wand. Fourteen and a half inches. Sturdy. Perfect for love charms and healing and excellent for divination. And Neilla," Mr. O turned to her, " You have your mother's eyes."

She blinked. "Oh, thank you, sir," she said politely and happily.

Her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue…I wonder what Sam and Nell's parents were like…

"Your mother had such a nice wand made of holly. Thirteen and a half inches. Slightly flexible. Great for incantations and strength. Your father had a wand of yew wood. Six and a quarter inches. Pliable. Excellent for transfiguration. Elizabeth Mertonna," he turned to me.

My last name was so weird. I've never heard it used before until people starting using it with me. "I remember your father," he continued. "You used to look different as an infant…"

"You knew me then?"

"Yes, actually. You used to have your father's eyes…"

"Huh? I _do_ have my father's eyes!" I told him, remembering my dad's loving big brown eyes that shined when he talked.

"Yes, well, his eyes were aqua colored..."

"Aqua! They're brown!" I told him. _"And who ever had aqua eyes before?"_ I thought.

"Very well. Either way, your father had a Cherrywood wand. Seven and a fifth inches. Sturdy. Excellent for divination, spoken charms, and rational thinking." He never continued on to say my mother's wand. I never knew my parents were wizards! All this time and they never told me…? Why?

"Well, now, Miss Paradiso, let me see," he said to Sam, pulling out a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Um, well, I'm right handed," Sam said uncomfortably; probably because he was so close to her.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He left the tape measure to measure Sam's arm; shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit (which was gross) and then around her head.

No two wands are the same," Mr. Ollivander was telling us as he searched the selves, "And of course, Miss Mertonna," he turned around to look at me, "you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Now it was measuring Sam's nostrils. "Ok, quite enough!" Ollivander came back with a box, throwing the tape measure on the floor. "Try this one. African Blackwood and wolf claw. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Sam took it and waved it around, but Mr. Ollivander took it back. "No, no – here, try this one, Indian Rosewood and a scale from a dragon's tail, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

And it went on like that for about 10 more wands until finally, the wand chose Sam. She raised the wand above her head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like fireworks, throwing dancing spots of light onto the walls. Everyone clapped. April and Athena shouted "I WANT ONE I WANT ONE!"

Mr. Ollivander told them gently they couldn't get one until they were older, but they still couldn't get over their excitement and were now trying to climb Mr. O's shelves, so we had to hold them back and tell them "no." Jeez, we were already acting like parents to them!

The same routine happened with Nell, and she tried about the same amount of wands as Sam did. When it was my turn, it was the same thing, only when it came to the wand choosing me I went through more like 100 wands than 10. There were piles everywhere of wands that I'd tried, and I could see April and Athena were getting bored and tired. "Tricky customer, eh?" Mr. Ollivander grinned. The more wands he pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. He was a strange man. I wasn't sure if I liked him too much. "I had one just last month," he continued. "Not to worry, we'll find a perfect match here somewhere…"

A few wands later, the three of us had our wands. Sam had gotten an ebony wand with a phoenix talon. It was seven and a half inches and swishy, as Mr. O said. Nell had gotten a kingwood wand with a thestral tail hair. It was fifteen and a half inches and very sturdy. I got a bloodwood wand with a phoenix ash, which Mr. Ollivander said was uncommon and strange, especially for me, whatever that meant, and it was eleven inches and supple.

We each paid seven gold coins which were called Galleons and left the shop as Mr. O bowed us out. We all decided we'd put our stuff back in our room and come back to get pets. I used my birthday money to buy a chocolate brown owl that I named Elise after my old name. Nell bought a white cat she named Aoife which was Irish and pronounced "ee fa" as Nell told us. She named her that because it means beautiful, radiant and joyful. She also told us it was also known as the greatest woman warrior in the world, and her mother used to tell her stories about it. Sam bought an own and named it Keighleana which was pronounced "kay lee ann uh" as Sam said, that was black with brown specks.

April was amazed a turtle and Athena was staring at a lizard in a tank. Sam felt bad we only got them ice cream, so she _actually_ bought them the lizard and the turtle. April named her turtle Shelly and Athena named her lizard Froggy. They had such cute names!

We invited them to stay with us at the Leaky Cauldron as we "waited for their parents to come." Back at the L.C. which I now liked calling the Leaky Cauldron, we got another room with four beds. April and Athena were small and young enough to share a bed. Right before I hit the sack I thought _"What are we gonna do when we have to leave to go to Hogwarts? What will happen to the girls that I like and take care of so much already?"_

**Sorry for the long update but I was busier than I thought! I know I said I'd update soon but I guess I had no idea that for one week I could actually have a life! Lol and thank you so much my lovely friend who STARTED WATCHING OURAN AND ACTUALLY THINKS ITS GOOD SO FAR! I love you :D Read and review please! Oh yes! I almost forgot! I REALLY wanna change the title of this story, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated *smiles* I already have some ideas, like:**

**It All Started By the Sea**

**In the Water is Where Dreams Happen**

**Confessions**

**You Were Chosen**

**Protector**

**When a Fish is Among Wizards**

**and stuff like that. I really need other suggestions because I don't really think they're good. Ok, so R&R and tell me what you think and what your ideas are!**


	7. A Letter

A Letter

**Hey! I changed the name of this story! It's now called Human: What You Thought I Really Was. I hope you like it! It hasn't gotten to why it's called that (unfortunately) but it will in the next few chapters! For now, just enjoy this stuff I throw together to become the VERY LONG intro to this beginning to seem VERY LONG story! I mean, I wrote the plot line out and everything at it came out to be more than 100 chapters! I don't think that's happening.**

**YouTube request from me to you: Retarded Running Horse! It's hilarious!**

**Liz: What the heck?**

**Sam: Trust me! It's great!**

**Nell: The horse isn't ACTUALLY like that. You'll see.**

_**~~~~L~~~~**_

We had to pack to leave for Hogwarts next week. I was starting to get nervous. I've never started at a new school before, and now I was going to have to meet tons of new people. Sam, Nell and I soon figured out why most Hogwarts students used trunks. There would be no way any other thing would hold all the stuff we had to bring! It was crazy.

There were shirts and bras draping over chairs and desks and any other place it could be draped. Piles of clothes were thrown on the floor you couldn't even see the floor anymore. The beds were just as bad. More clothes were on top of them, along with school supplies, like telescopes and cauldrons. We kept our wands on top of the desk in our room, though. We wanted those to be protected.

Sam was keeping a calendar she found up on the wall, with numbers written in sharpie on each square counting down to when we left. We had 5 more days.

That day, my goal was to pack as much as possible, but April and Athena kept getting in our way. Sam and Nell ganged up on me and had me take the twins on a walk. They said it was my responsibility now since I had offered them a place now. I was glad I did what I did though. I liked April and Athena a lot. It was so easy to feel like we'd known them for years instead of a few days.

I thought they would just be like any other kids, but they were fun to hang around with, and they acted slightly more mature than others. I also expected they wouldn't take good care of their pets, but that was not true. They did everything they were supposed to do. They usually listened easily, except when it was time for bed. They wanted to stay up with the "big girls." I don't blame them though. It must've looked like fun to them, but I don't know how since all we had been doing was packing.

The day after that, we each got a lot of packing done. April and Athena were exhausted from the long walk I took them on yesterday, and they actually took a nap. I was still worried what we were going to do with them when we left. Where would they go? There was only 4 days left now.

I finished packing with 3 days left here at the Leaky Cauldron. Nell and Sam still had a LONG ways to go, though. I had brought the least amount of stuff with me.

I had a scary dream last night. It was where I was getting attacked by a huge green cat! I jolted up in my bed and looked around. _"Ok, it's just a dream,"_ I thought. _"Just a dream. That's all."_I thought back on my dream and almost laughed. How could that be scary?

I looked around. Where were April and Athena! I jumped up and lit all the candles and the fireplace (there are no lights in this place). "Nell! Sam! Wake up!" I shook them.

"Huh?" Sam mumbled.

Nell jolted up. "What's wrong?"

"April and Athena! Where are they?"

We searched and we searched. Finally, Nell found two identical dolls in a corner of the room. "Nell…? Where'd you get those?" we never saw them before.

"Hey," my eyes widened. "They…they look…familiar…for some reason…" I studied them, looking closer. "Oh my God," I gasped.

"What!" Nell and Sam questioned at the same time.

"I think…I think that one's April and the other's Athena!"

"No!" they were shocked.

"Yes! Look closer!" And they did.

"They're…they're…" Sam couldn't finish.

"They're like us?"

"I guess," I was amazed.

Suddenly, the dolls turned life sized. Well, life sized as the size of five year olds. Their clothes grew with them. My mouth was formed in a tiny o.

The twin girls acted like nothing happened and went straight to their bed, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

I was confused on the whole thing of who, what, when, where, and why you turn into a doll, so thankfully Sam and Nell were there to explain.

"Well, it's simple, really," they started. "Sometimes people are just born with this ability. It's almost like people are born with the ability to change their physical appearance wherever and whenever they want to. They're called Metamorphmagi. What? Well, we're dolls, that's all. Cloth body and eyes that close when you lay them down. When? We can change into a doll whenever we want to, actually. In your mind, you just think you want to become one and you do. When you want to turn back, you think you want to be human again. Where? Anywhere. Why? I dunno, it's just the way it is!"

So that kinda cleared me up. I had a plan slowly forming in my mind, but I needed time.

The next night, I just couldn't fall asleep. I was the last one awake. We had one more day left here, and then we'd be leaving. I looked out the window. I actually might miss it here. It felt very homey. I heard a strange noise. What was that? I looked around. Then I heard tapping. I turned back. Something was at the window!

I slowly crept forward, sweating. Who could it be? I sighed when I got closer. It was just an owl. I opened the noisy window as quietly as I could. It flew inside. It had a scroll or something attached to its left leg. I gently took it and unrolled it. It read:

_Dear Elizabeth,_

_ I heard you have arrived safely at the Leaky Cauldron with your friends. In a few days, you will be leaving for Hogwarts. On the other letter I have given you, it tells you how you will get there. _

_ Once you arrive, you will attend a feast in the Great Hall and go to your assigned dormitory for the night. The next morning is when your classes start, and this is where you come in._

_ Before your first class ever at Hogwarts, I will be needing to see you in my office. Don't worry; you're not in trouble, but I have to do something. _

_ My office is located in the tower next to a large stone gargoyle on the second floor, left wing. Once you get there, the password is "Lemon drop." _

_ I am enjoying your arrival, Miss Mertonna._

_Albus Dumbledore_

I honestly didn't get this at all. Why did he want to see me and me only? I was confused. _"Oh_ _well,"_ I sighed. _"I guess I'll just have to wait and find out!"_

**I know this story is kinda boring, but I think it'll get exciting in the next few chapters! That's when you'll find out why I changed the title to what it is now!**


	8. Arrival

Arrival

**Hey you guys! Yeah so I was re-planning everything…and stuff happens and stuff but like, everything! EVERYTHING! happens in chapter 11. Well, the start of EVERYTHING! let's say. :D I can't give anything away. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I actually was busy for once! It's shocking, isn't it? I'm NEVER busy! And I'm not being sarcastic, either! OMGIZZLES A REVIEWER! A new reviewer! Thank you, Suvali66! Annnnd**

**I'm sorry for the SUPER long wait. :c I was so busy with everything! But, I think I found some time, and also I have a 4 day weekend, so that gave me a chance to read everyone's updates and start writing again! OK, so I'm gonna shut up and let you guys read.**

**Bye! See ya later…well, like, after this chapter ends cuz I always…usually….write another AN there ^_^**

_**~~~~~L~~~~~~~**_

So, I had this letter. What was I going to do? Well, we acted like nothing happened. We went back to sleep, and when we got up in the morning, that's when I could think. I looked out one of the windows and just stared at the sunrise. This helped me think, for some reason. The sun rises and sets in the water, you know. I don't know why, but that made me feel like I was connected to it. Strange, huh?

I had an idea. I came up with it last night; a rough draft in my mind, as Sam and Nell explained how transforming into a doll worked. I glanced at the twin girls, sleeping peacefully in their bed.

Today was the day we left. Sam and Nell kept looking at me, wondering what I would decide. It's like I became the leader. Well, maybe for this situation I was. I was the one that invited April and Athena to come with me.

I took a deep breath. Ok, this was my chance. I walked swiftly over to their bed and shook them gently, waking them up. "Come on, get dressed, you two. We have an adventure awaiting."

Little kids liked adventures, right? Why not call going to Hogwarts an adventure? Technically, it was. Yeah, I couldn't leave April or Athena behind. There would be no way.

As soon as they got dressed, I told them probably the weirdest and most random thing they ever heard. "Now, girls, think with all your might. Picture yourself as dolls. Think. Think. Think."

"Why?" they looked confused, but I think Nell and Sam knew where I was going with this.

"It'll help with our adventure!"

Apparently, that helped. A few seconds later, right before my eyes, the twins began to shrink and adjust until they were motionless dolls once again. I checked my watch which didn't work here anyway for some reason, grabbed my trunk and owl cage. "Come on, we're gonna be late!"

Nell and Sam grabbed their possessions too. Sam took Athena and I took April and we carried them in our arms. I felt like a little girl, but it was worth it, because I was giving people a home.

We shot out the door, went down to the tavern and paid Tom for our stay. Nell took out Dumbledore's first letter to us. There were directions to follow yet again. We figured it'd be faster to take a bus there.

Sam and Nell still had a HUGE amount of our American money, and I had a little too, so we exchanged it for England's currency. Once the bus came, we gave our unusual travel gear to the workers and hoped on. People gave uncertain glances in our direction. Do you think we cared? We were going to Hogwarts! I wonder what it'll be like. I daydreamed until Nell told us this was our stop. We were at the train station.

Once we got off, Nell looked at the letter once again. "Look for platform 9 ¾ ok?"

"Ummm…ok…" Sam and I exchanged glances.

We walked along, intrigued by beautiful England. Sam pointed. "Ok, there's 9….and there's 10…what the…"

Nell looked at the platforms, and then down at the letter, and back up to the platform signs. Then to the letter. " Ooh, ok. Umm…it says to uh…run at the wall, and like, expect to find the Hogwarts Express."

"WHAT!"

"Umm…yeah…"

Sam and I reached for the letter at the same time, and we split the letter in two.

"So, now we have to believe you?"

"Ok, fine. Um… I'll go first, ok?"

Sam's face went from angry and stern to shocked and scared. "No… Nell!" Sam reached out her hand to grab Nell, but she was already out of reach, running full speed at the solid brick wall. I squinted my eyes, not wanting to see what would happen. But when I looked up, Nell was gone. I looked, but no Nell. I slowly lifted my head.

"Oh my God," I murmured. Samantha gasped.

"NELL!" Sam screamed and ran towards the brick wall too, pushing her cart in front of her just like Nell had.

A second later, people were starting to look, probably because of us running and screaming, but when they looked, no one but me was there.

Sam had disappeared too, bringing Athena with her.

My turn, now. I took a deep breath and looked around. When no one was looking, I charged. I knew I didn't have to go that fast, but I wanted to get this terrifying moment over with. The brick wall got closer, and closer….

It was like the wall was replaced with a whole new setting. Right before my eyes stood the broad and magnificent Hogwarts Express. People ran around, carrying strange objects, and my eyes caught many owls. Yup, this was the right place.

"Come on!" Nell motioned me over. "Let's put our trunks away and get on the train!"

We followed others as they made their way over to the side of the train, where we stored our luggage. After that, we opened one of the doors and stepped inside. I don't ever remember being on a train, but it amazed me with its tiny hallway and tight little compartments. We found an empty one near the back and sat down, placing the April and Athena "dolls" next to us.

Soon a loud whistle blew, and we were off. The view was beautiful. Fields of grass and cows and horses passed by in a blur. A lady came by around lunch time, pushing a cart around with food I'd never seen before. We were all curious to try it, and Samantha had the money, so she bought us a little of each thing. What interested me the most was the Chocolate Frogs. I opened the packet and literally a chocolate frog jumped out. I was too shocked to do anything but stare at it moving.

"Oh my God, eww."

"Hey look a card!" I pulled the card out of the box, letting my frog hop away. There was no way I was shoving something moving down my throat. "Hmmm…. It says Doctor Iohan Fautus….There's a picture of him! Holy… It's moving!"

"What!" Nell and Sam jumped over to see.

"There's not even a picture, Lizzay," Sam sighed defeated-ly.

"There was just a moment ago! I swear!"

"Sure."

"Meh," I gave up.

I flipped over the card. "Look!" I read out loud. "Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480-1540) was born in the village of Knittlingen, Württemberg, and was granted a B.A. in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. Faust is an alchemist (or 'astrologer and necromancer') whose pride, vanity, and vile hucksterism would inevitably lead to his doom.

'Faust's' poor reputation became legendary when while in prison, in exchange for wine he offered to show a chaplain how to remove hair from his face without a razor; the chaplain provided the wine and Faustus provided the chaplain with a salve of arsenic, which removed not only the hair but the flesh. He practiced forms of alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic.

The meme 'Pact with the Devil' is a widespread cultural inheritance."

"Creepy…" I shuttered.

Nell and Sam looked over my shoulder. "Whaa?"

Suddenly the door flew open. A skinny boy with blond hair and pale skin slid open our compartment door and stepped in, and two tough, big, mean looking boys entered from behind.

"Is it true?" the first boy burst out. "Harry Potter's on the train?"

Nell looked up. "Who are you?"

"I'm Malfoy," he boasted, sticking out his chest a little. "Draco Malfoy. And this is Crabbe and that's Goyle."

"Who's Harry Potter?" Sam asked innocently.

"Whaa!" he almost yelled. The other two grunted in shock. Draco stuck his head up in the air and sniffed. "Mudbloods," he sighed. "Come on, Crabbe! Goyle!" They marched out of the room.

"Well then," I muttered. I wondered. Who WAS Harry Potter?

About half an hour later, a girl with frizzy brown hair and big buck teeth peeked her head in.

"Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one," she said.

To me she seemed a little… snotty.

Sam shrieked. "A TOAD!"

Nell laughed. She leaned over and whispered, "Those rich people," and then 'tsk'ed.

I laughed. "No, no we haven't," I told this other girl.

"I'm Hermione by the way. Hermione Granger."

"Nice," Sam smiled.

"Yo, I'm E-…Elizabeth Mertona. Yeah."

"Do you always stutter?" Without pausing for a response she turned to Sam and asked, "And you?"

"Samantha Paradiso."

"Ah. You?" She looked at Nell.

"Neilla O'Connor. Just call me Nell." She smiled.

"Well, Nell, Samantha –"

"Or just Sam."

Hermione sighed. "Nell, Sam, Elizabe-"

"Oh, you can call me Liz if you wanna," I interrupted. It was slightly amusing to see her frustration.

"Nell, Sam, _Liz, _you should be getting into your robes. We should be arriving soon. Hope to see you later!" and then she was off.

We all turned to look at each other, our eyes and mouths wide open. A second later, we were on the floor, laughing so hard we cried.

Once we calmed down, we _did_ put our robes on. Soon after, the train came to a stop.

We stepped out to find a man holding a lantern yelling, "Firs' yeers! Firs' yeers this way! Come on now!" he grunted and started all over again. "Firs' yeers!"

Oh, and did I mention? He was a freakin' giant! I'm not lying. He was as tall as the TRAIN. Yeah. I think I almost passed out. Eventually, the three of us built up our courage and followed him.

"Name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds here at Hogwarts."

We turned the corner and gasped – the whole group of us. "A castle!"

The largest castle I've ever seen just appeared, dark and majestic in the night. Hagrid smiled at our shock. "Come on now. Follow me!" he repeated.

We got into tiny little boats that fit four in each one (but Hagrid got one to himself), and we met another person. She seemed very nice. We glided across the dark, cold, dreary lake, getting closer and closer to the castle with each hard stroke of the boat's paddle.

Once we hit land again, we stepped off the boat. Immediately it felt like something had changed inside of me. I tended to get this feeling I was experiencing right now a lot when I was at the beach or something, but I ignored the feeling. Maybe it was just because I was in an unfamiliar place. I _was,_ after all, and I was _pumped._ A castle! **(Haha fist pump)**

We were carried along until we reached a kind of underground harbor where we got out onto rocks and pebbles. Hargrid was checking the boats when he said, "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?"

A slightly chubby boy shouted, "Trevor!" while holding out his hands. I guessed his name was Neville, unless lots of kids had pet toads here.

We clambered up a passageway in the rock, following Hagrid's lamp. At last, we came out onto smooth, damp grass. Then we walked up a flight of stone steps and all crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hargrid raised his fist and knocked three times on the castle door. As soon as he did, the door swung open.

A tall, black-haired lady was standing there, waiting for us. She wore emerald-green robes and a scowl.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," she spoke as she pulled the door wide.

I gasped in amazement. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches and the ceiling was too high to make out. A magnificent marble staircase faced us which led to the upper floors. We followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. She led us to a small, empty chamber. We crowded in.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Sam pulled out a comb and she, Nell and I brushed our hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

"I wonder what we'll have to do," Nell whispered. No one was really talking except that Hermione girl who was whispering fast about what spells she would need.

"I know right?" I agreed. "I don't know any spells."

"Same," Nell whispered back.

Sam was staring off into the distance nervously.

Everyone suddenly jumped in sync. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. They were pearly-white and slightly transparent. They glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glanced up at us. They were arguing. One was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –"

"My dear Friar," another ghost spoke wearing tights. "Haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?" He had just noticed all of us.

None of us answered. We were still sort of in shock all these ghosts were just chillin' right before our eyes.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling at us. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few of us nodded without speaking.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned and the ghosts floated away.

"Form a line and follow me."

We followed Professor back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. This was definitely the biggest room I'd ever seen. It was lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where all the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led us up to there, and we came to a halt in a line facing the other students. I was nervous now, with all these older kids staring at me. I heard Hermione whisper about the ceiling, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_."

There was a wizard's hat placed on a four-legged stool in front of us. It was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. It started to twitch. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you're a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm the Thinking Cap!" _

The whole hall burst into applause. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blond pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment later, "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Mertonna, Elizabeth!" Professor McGonagall called my name.

I took a deep breath and my friends patted my shoulder gently. I stepped out of the crowd and started walking up the steps. I got more nervous as soon as the whole Great hall got silent. I kept my head down, but out the corner of my eye, I saw Dumbledore move forward in his seat a little. He was the only person I recognized out of the adults except for Hagrid who I just met. I slipped gently on the stool and placed the limp Sorting Hat on my head.

"Hmmmmm…. Very difficult…. There's courage, yes, and you're very smart… Power, too. Yes, you have lots of power. And Hufflepuff? Hmm…."

"Not Slytherin, please," I muttered in my head. "Not Slytherin; I'm not bad."

"Not Slytherin, eh? Bad? Very well…. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff…. No, Ravenclaw…. Gryffindor… Ravenclaw…. Gryffindor…. Ravenclaw…." Suddenly the hat shouted out loud, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Everyone clapped, but I noticed the Slytherins didn't. I realized I'd taken longer than everyone else so far…

I walked over to the Gryffindor table, looking for someone I knew. I saw bushy hair almost immediately. Hermione! I took a seat next to her. A few names after me, Nell was called. Roughly 30 seconds later, the Sorting Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" I sighed happily. When Nell got closer, I waved to her and tapped an empty seat next to me for her to sit.

Soon, Sam was called up. The hat called, "Gryffindor!" I was shocked because I thought at least one of us would've been placed into a different house. Sam sat on the other side of Hermione. Two kids later, Professor McGonagall called, "Harry Potter!" This time, the hall went completely into an eerie silence, but suddenly everyone started whispering.

A boy with red hair sitting across from me boasted, "We met him this morning. Nice kid," he smiled to someone identical to him. Twins! Which reminded me of Athena and April… - Where was my stuff! Suddenly the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" Well, whoever this Harry Potter kid was, he was in my house. And he had taken longer than me to get sorted.

Once all the first years were sorted, Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" That was hilarious.

Suddenly, food appeared in front of me.

"What the!...Whoa…."

Grab, grab, grab, shove in mouth. Then repeat the process. Eh, about 65 times or so. Maybe 86,346,838,678,394,678,936,789,367,389,467 times. That's exactly what the entire student body was doing in the Great Hall. Right when I started to get full, all the food disappeared at once. As soon as the first time, food appeared again but it was sweets! I love sweets. I. LOVE. SWEETS. **(And don't all my OCs? :p) **I thought I was full, but as soon as the desserts came out, it was like my stomach emptied. Hey, it was like magic! Haha well we _are_ at a magical school! And as my uncle always says, "Jump up for a second to push the food down farther to make more room!" He always said that on Thanksgiving. It wasn't like I was going to jump HERE though…

Suddenly, a clear head popped out of one of the dishes. Sam and Nell shrieked, everyone looked shocked, and yes, I actually jumped up. Legit. People laughed. At first I was embarrassed but I shrugged it off. At least I had room for my dessert now! Once the dessert disappeared, I started to become exhausted. Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

That Harry guy started laughing. A few others did too. Wait- was it supposed to be funny? Dumbledore wasn't smiling. They stopped laughing. Dumbledore continued, "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

He flicked his wand and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!"

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our hands could do with a filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

No one finished the song at the same time. The last people singing were the twins across from me. Dumbledore conducted the last few lines with his wand.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

A boy named Percy was a prefect, so he led us out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. On our way, portraits whispered and pointed as we passed. Twice, Percy led us through doorways hidden behind slidding panels and hanging tapestries. We climbed more staircases while yawning and dragging our feet. We came to a halt. A bundle of walking sticks were floating in midair ahead of us. When Percy took a step forward, they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," he whispered to us. "A poltergeist." Percy raised his voice. "Peeves – show yourself."

A burp responded.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Barron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. "Oooooooooh!" he said with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped down at us and I ducked along with everyone else.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" yelled Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on poor Neville's head.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," advised Percy, as we set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a fat lady who wore a silk pink dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung open. There was a hole in the wall which we all went through. We found ourselves in a cozy round room full of squashy armchairs. Percy directed us girls through one door to our dormitory and the boys through another. Once we reached the top of the spiral staircase, we found our beds at last: six four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Our trunks were in here already.

"So," I walked in slowly after Sam. "This is our room I guess huh?" This was turning out perfectly. A big, comfy room and Sam and Nell with me. But there were 6 beds… Who else….?

The door creaked open. Hermione peeked her head in.

"Hello, you three."

"Hey."

"Sup?"

"Hello!"

Haha. How American of Sam and me. After Hermione came in, two other girls showed up. There names were Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. We introduced each other too and then got ready for our first school day at Hogwarts the next day.

As we tucked in bed with our pajamas on, April and Athena in doll form next to me, Nell leaned over and whispered, "Don't forget about that meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow morning…." And walked over to her own bed. Ah, yes.

I wondered what that would be about. Hmmm…. I knew he didn't see everybody, especially on their first day of Hogwarts, so why me? My brain couldn't register anything anymore. _"I'll just find out tomorrow," _I thought as my eyes closed and I began to dream about a far away castle in the mist.

**Whatd'ya think? It's really long and not very creative but the next chapter should be up soon so yeah… More interesting stuff happens in that chapter in my opinion. SO SORRY FOR REALLY LONG WAIT. Love ya guys! Btw other stories may not be updated as much because I'm trying to get this story somewhere. xp**


	9. Transformation

Transformation

**'ello there! It's me! Finally back with an uncrashified computer! So I can actually go on FanFiction and type stories again! Sorry for such the long wait! 6 whole months... *tear* Well, for this story I already have the next two chapters written out, so they should be added soon after this one! Since I'm reading Harry Potter yet again, I'm in the HP zone! That's probably why I'm updating this one a lot :) also because I have so many plans for it and it's behind my other two stories! Well, I'll shut up now so you can read and hopefully review! :) I miss all of this stuff XD (btw that L symbol thingy in the line below is supposed to stand for Liz's point of view, and I put this cuz I didn't feel like using the same ole "Liz POV" thing XD)**

_**~~~~~L~~~~~~~**_

I woke up in the morning in shock at first. Where was I? But then I quickly remembered while I stared at the red curtains. I was at Hogwarts at last.

I got up from my large, comfy bed and stretched. This was probably the most comfortable bed I'd ever slept in. I got my uniform off a nearby chair and got dressed. I spotted a folded piece of parchment on the floor. I picked it up and placed it on top of the dresser. That's right... A meeting with Dumbledore today...

I picked up the hairbrush next to the letter on the dresser top and brushed my hair as everyone else slowly woke up.

Once everyone was ready, I said goodbye quickly to the twins (in doll form) and we headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione, remembering the way from a book she kept blabbering about, _Hogwarts, A History,_ led us down. I ate my breakfast quickly and got directions from Hermione to Dumbledore's office. I got lost a lot but eventually I figured I had the right spot.

What stood before me was an extremely ugly and large stone gargoyle. I looked down at the paper. Password...?

"Sherbet lemon," I spoke, almost as if it was a question.

But the gargoyle suddenly sprang to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. I was amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward. It reminded me of an escalator. I stepped on it and heard the wall thud closed behind me. I rose up in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, I saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.

I knocked on the door and waited for a response.

Soon I head Dumbledore say, "Come in, come in!"

"Hi Professor," I smiled shyly.

"Elizabeth," he smiled back, his blue eyes twinkling under his half-moon glasses. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"I love it," I responded honestly.

"Good. You are probably wondering why I sent you here to my office."

"Yes, Professor," I said politely, although I was bursting with curiosity for him to tell me faster.

He sat down in a large chair and offered me one. Once we were both seated, he started talking gently.

"Elizabeth, this is no doubt going to be very hard to understand, especially considering I can't tell you everything -" he sighed. "Not now. You are not ready. Please forgive me but you must not ask questions. It will make things too complicated. In time, you will find your answers." He paused. "When you were younger, I... I disguised you. I disguised you to look like you are now. I -"

_"What?"_ He _disguised_ me?

I thought he was going to explain this to me at first, but he changed his facial expression and said, "I cannot tell you anymore now. It is a long story that I shall explain when you get a bit older. I want you to be in your true form from now on. Is that all right with you?"

I was terrified. What did he mean? "Is it dangerous?" I asked without thinking.

He lowered his head to look at me closely; his eyes seemed like they had x-ray vision or something. "No, it is not. I simply do not feel like you should be in your disguised form I put you in for too long. The shorter amount of time, the better."

"And how long have I been like this... disguised?"

"Since you were a few months old."

I gapped at him. Then I nodded quickly. I wanted to get this over with. "Ok. Yes, sir. I'm ready," I said, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"Stand up, please." I did. "Over here," he pointed his wand toward a large basin.

I stepped inside it. Above me looked something like a floating shower head. Dumbledore raised his wand and tapped it. Water poured out immediately, but once it touched me, the clear water droplets turned into rainbow flecks and bounced off me. I felt a tingling all through my body, like the feeling when your foot falls asleep. Other than that, I didn't feel any different. I looked at Dumbledore, confused.

"Look in this mirror," he smiled.

I stood in front of the mirror. My jaw dropped. My first thought was the mirror was lying. I was standing in front of it, but the reflection was _not _me. The person had wavy, blond hair with bright orange streaks that was a little above shoulder length, quite unlike my curly, brown hair that went down to my mid-back. Her eyes were blue-green, almost like the color of the ocean. Mine were brown. She was skinnier and her skin was clearer. She had no earring holes, her nose was thinner and pointer and her mouth was pinker and fuller. She was beautiful. I lifted my hand up to my face. So did she. I gasped. So did she. I looked over at Dumbledore, extremely confused.

He smiled. "Breakfast?" he asked, pulling out a plate covered with food.

"I... what?" I gasped. Even my voice sounded different; softer, gentler, like waves crashing onto the shore.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"My voice..." I drifted off. He smiled. "No thanks," I continued as if nothing happened. "I already ate in the Great Hall."

"Ah, yes. That is surprising you found it on your first day."

"Well, Hermione Granger helped me and the other girls in my dormitory."

"She must be a clever girl." I didn't know what to say, but he kept talking. "Thank you for coming, Miss Mertona. I know it must be terribly hard to understand, but you will learn in time."

"Thank you too. I was sorta expecting something different, like me turning into a monster or something."

"You are no monster, Elizabeth."

"Right," I said awkwardly. "Well, bye, Professor."

"Goodbye."

As I left I felt different, but in a good way. I felt... better. I was unsure about this whole thing, but I knew this was true. I felt like I was finally ME.


	10. Seeing Double

Seeing Double

_~~~~~L~~~~~~~_

After I left Dumbledore's office, I ran into Nearly Headless Nick, who kindly pointed me in the right direction to my class. I got there just in time, sliding in a seat in between Sam and Nell that they had saved for me.

"Hey," Sam whispered. "That seat was for someone else."

Nell looked at my Gryffindor badge curiously.

"For who?" I asked.

"Her name's Elizabeth."

"Wha-" Oh crap. This was going to take some major explaining. I had forgotten I looked different now.

Nell whispered, "I don't remember you from last night. Uh, have we met?"

"Yes, of course, um... Let me explain."

Sam and Nell looked confused but before I could say anything, the teacher glared in our direction and we quickly hushed up.

After the class was over, I explained everything that happened in the meeting with Dumbledore. They had a hard time believing me (I couldn't blame them. I did too), but I told them that the dolls back in our dormitory were real people, and only Sam, Nell and I knew that. Then they had to believe me.

Soon, we found out to watch out for Mrs. Norris, a scrawny dust-colored cat with huge bulging eyes, who was the caretaker, Filch's cat. If anyone broke a rule in front of her, she'd run off for Filch, who would appear just a few seconds later. Every student hated the two of them.

There were 142 staircases in the castle. Some were wide, sweeping ones, others narrow and rickety, some that led somewhere different on a Friday, and some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. I'd forgotten a few times. Let me tell you, it's quite frightening.

Everything seemed to move. The people in the portraits that hung on the walls kept going to visit each other and the coasts of armor seemed to be able to walk.

The doors were tricky too. Some wouldn't open unless you asked politely or tickled them in exactly the right place. Then there were the doors that weren't really doors at all; they were just walls pretending. Ghosts would glide through doors we were trying to open.

Nearly Headless Nick would help Gryffindors in the right direction like he had to me on my first day. However, Peeves the Poltergeist would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!" He did this to me as I tried to get to History of Magic, easily the most boring taught class, taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. He droned on and on while we scribbled down dates and names.

Every Wednesday at midnight, we had to study the night skies through different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week, we went down to the greenhouses behind the castle with Professor Sprout to study Herbology, where we learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for. In Charms, as Professor Flitwick (who was so tiny he had to stand on a pile of books just to see over his desk) was taking the roll call, he said Harry Potter's name, squeaked, and fell off his book stack.

Professor McGonagall was the Transfiguration teacher. She was strict and clever. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned," she said. Then she turned her desk into a pig and back again. But I soon realized we wouldn't be doing that sort of thing for a while. We took a lot of complicated notes and then were given a match. We were supposed to try and turn it into a needle. Hermione had been the only one to do this.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a bit of a joke with Professor Quirrell teaching. He seemed too nervous to teach anything, and it was hard to understand what he was saying with all his stuttering.

Potions took place in one of the dungeons. It was cold and creepy, especially with the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. The teacher was Professor Snape. First he gave a little speech and then proceeded to give Harry a very hard time and did not seem fair at all. I disliked him already.

He then put us in pairs. We had to mix a simple potion to cure boils. He criticized almost everyone except that boy, Draco, that we had met on the Hogwarts Express. A boy named Neville somehow managed to melt Seamus Finnigan's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor. With a shock, I noticed it had burned a hole in my shoe. People all across the room were jumping up, shocked, noticing what I had just noticed.

Poor Neville moaned as red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. Snape yelled at him and then told Seamus to bring Neville to the hospital wing. Then he blamed Harry for it and took off a point for Gryffindor.

One day there was a sign notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday with the Slytherins. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. It sounded fun.

Hermione and Neville were very nervous. Hermione had checked a book, _Quidditch Through the Ages,_ out from the library and bored us all with stupid flying tips. The mail arrived by owl, interrupting Hermione. I wasn't the only one who was pleased by this.

Neville received something called a Remembrall, which told you if you'd forgotten something. Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Malfoy grabbed it and Harry and Ron immediately jumped to their feet. Professor McGonagall was there in a flash. Malfoy scowled and dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

At 3:30, the Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for our first flying lesson. The Slytherins were already there. Maddam Hooch, our teacher, arrived.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up. Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'"

"Up!" I commanded along with everyone else.

Right away, the broomstick flew into my hand. I looked up to see Harry Potter's broom had risen at the same time as mine. Next, Draco Malfoy's rose. The rest had trouble. Hermione's rolled over on the ground and Neville's hadn't moved at all.

After everyone eventually was holding a broom, Madam Hooch showed us how to mount our brooms without sliding off the end and walked up and down the rows, correcting our grips.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"

Neville was so nervous, jumpy and frightened, he pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

I had a sudden urge to blink, and when I did, I saw images flash before me: Neville face down on the ground; Madam Hooch walking a white faced Neville towards the castle, clutching his wrist; Malfoy and Harry flying up in the air; Professor McGonagall running out onto the grounds, furious...

When I blinked again, Neville was falling from 20 feet in the air. With a thud and a crack, Neville was face down on the grass. But... What had just happened? That hadn't happened twice... Had it?

"Again?" I whispered, wincing at the crack of Neville's wrist breaking.

"What do you mean, again?" Sam stared at me.

"Well, that just happened a few seconds before... the second time," I stated. Hadn't they seen it too? "Right?" I asked.

"Nooo..." Nell said, seeming to question my sanity.

Madam Hooch helped Neville get up and then turned to us. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You will leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

They walked back towards the castle again.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Malfoy laughed.

The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said a Slytherin girl whose name was Pansy Parkinson. "Never thought _you'd_ like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"You shut your mouth!" I hissed.

Before Pansy could come back at me or for me to realize what I'd just done, Malfoy darted forward and snatched something out of the grass saying, "Look! It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." He held it up.

"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry Potter said quietly.

Everyone stopped talking to watch. They were going to fly again, I was sure of it.

Malfoy smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up in a tree?"

"Give it _here_!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off.

He hovered level with the highest branches of an oak tree and called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

"Knew it," I muttered.

"What?" Nell asked.

"Nothing," I said, knowing what she would say if I told her I'd seen his happen twice, too.

"_No!_" Hermione shouted. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all in trouble."

But Harry ignored her and soared up. I had a feeling McGonagall would show up again. I thought maybe I could get them down before it happened again. Remembering her furious face, I mounted my broom and kicked off the ground.

"Not you too!" Hermione moaned.

I chased Harry up as he flew up to Malfoy. With a surprising feeling of joy, I realized how fun this was. It was easy. I could do this without being taught! Apparently, Harry could too. He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy. When they saw me, they both looked confused.

"You're acting like idiots, both of you. You should get down before someone catches you," I said, somewhat calmly.

Harry looked annoyed at me and both looked like they could care less if they got caught at the moment.

Malfoy smirked at me, ready to say something, but Harry called to Malfoy, "Give it here or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh yeah?" Malfoy was trying to sneer. He looked worried though.

Harry leaned forward and shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only got out of the way just in time. Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people clapped below. I was watching both of them closely.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.

"Catch it if you can, then!" Malfoy yelled, and tried to throw the Remembrall at the tree trunk, but I was too quick.

I blocked it with a gentle turn so the Remembrall hit the end of my broom lightly and started to fall towards the ground. Malfoy had already landed safely on the ground.

"Catch it, Harry!" I yelled, but he was already chasing after it.

He stretched out his hand. A foot from the ground he caught it just in time to straighten his broom. He toppled gently on the grass.

"Damn," I stared wide eyed, flying faster now. "I'm an idiot."

"HARRY POTTER!" Professor McGonagall was running towards the class on the ground below. He got to his feet. "_Never_ - in all my time at Hogwarts - how _dare_ you - might have broken your neck -"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor -" I heard this as I got closer to them.

"Be quiet, Miss Patil -"

"But Malfoy-"

"That's _enough_, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now. You too, Mertonna," she added as I landed smoothly on the ground.

Neither Harry or I looked at each other as we followed Professor McGonagall towards the castle. What was going to happen? Would I really be expelled already? So much had happened in less than two weeks. I hadn't even lasted two weeks...

We followed McGonagall up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, but she still hadn't spoken. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry and I trailing miserably behind her. Maybe she would be taking us to Dumbledore... Maybe he would understand! No, probably not... I had disobeyed a teacher.

I had the urge to blink again and a fifth year boy stood before me. In the background, McGonagall was no longer looking furious. I blinked again and he was gone.

Professor McGonagall and Harry had stopped outside a classroom. I had stopped walking when I saw the boy. What was going on with me? But I put that thought aside as she opened the door and poked her head inside. I hurried over.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

Seconds later, the boy I had just seen came out of Flitwick's class, looking confused.

"Follow me, all of you," Professor said, and we marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry and me. "In here."

She pointed us into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on a blackboard.

"Out Peeves!" Professor McGonagall barked.

Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out, cursing. She slammed the door behind him and turned to face us.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood - I've found you a Seeker."

Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight. "Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said McGonagall. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?" Harry nodded. "He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty foot dive," she continued. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."

Wood looked like all his dreams suddenly came true. "Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.

"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.

"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light - speedy - we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor - a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. _Flattened_ in the last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..." She peered sternly over her glasses at Harry. "I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you." Then she suddenly smiled. "Your father would have been proud. He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."

After Harry left, she finally addressed me. "Your flying was excellent as well. No doubt your father taught you?"

"What?" I asked, bewildered. "No, I've never been on a broomstick before. I'm muggle born," I added.

For a second, she looked confused, but then she said, "I must've mistaken you for someone else." Then her tone of voice changed. "Wood, this is Mertonna. You should've seen her fly too. A natural, as well, I suppose. She would've made a great Keeper."

Wood examined me too. "Hmm... not exactly built for a Keeper..."

"Oh, Wood! It wouldn't matter. She blocked the Remembrall from hitting the tree and shot it away so Potter could catch it." He looked excited again. "Just someone to keep in mind for after you leave Hogwarts," she suggested. Then she smiled. "Great flying, Mertonna."

**Hope you like it! I know it has a lot of stuff from the original book in this chapter, and I was going to add something else to the end of it, but it was too long, so I decided to cut it off here. The next chapter is almost ready and should be up in a day or two! :)**


	11. Making Trouble

Making Trouble

**This is the chapter I've been waiting to write since I came up with this story! Eee! I'm excited :3 Hope you like it! **

"That's incredible you didn't get in trouble!" Hermione exclaimed at dinner in the Great Hall after overhearing me tell Sam and Nell what had happened after Professor McGonagall took Harry and me off the grounds.

"Did you want me to?" I retorted.

Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati all wondered who I was ever since I'd transformed (or whatever it was that happened to me in Dumbledore's office) because I looked different than my first night and morning at Hogwarts. We wouldn't tell them, except that I was still definitely the same person, but Hermione was suspicious and seemed to think I was a troublemaker.

Nell ignored Hermione. "That's awesome, Liz!"

"Totally," Sam added. "I was terrified you would be in big trouble."

"Is that common?" Hermione asked.

I tuted and rolled my eyes, annoyed.

Apparently, Nell and Sam were too.

"Come on, let's go." Sam stood up and threw her napkin she was using to wipe her face elegantly on the table.

Nell stood up too. "I'm done eating."

I glanced around. People were starting to turn their heads. I stood up and followed them out of the Hall back to our dormitory. "Why is she so determined that I'm a troublemaker?"

"Us too," Sam said.

"Yeah, since we're your friends," Nell added.

On Hermione's bed was a copy of _Hogwarts, A History _that she'd told us so much about. Sam picked it up absentmindedly and opened it to the page Hermione had left off on.

Removing the bookmark, Nell questioned, "Mermaids?"

"Mermaids?" I repeated. "There's mermaids at Hogwarts?"

"In the lake." Sam pointed to a paragraph stating all the creatures in the lake on Hogwarts grounds. "We should catch one!" she said excitedly.

Nell and I stared at her, open mouthed.

"Oh, come on, you guys! Not like, _catch_ one, but just find one! You gotta admit it'd be cool."

"Oh, I don't know... Look at all these things that are in the lake too... It might be dangerous. Plus, we could get in trouble!" Nell protested.

I wasn't thinking it'd be a good idea, but what Nell said stirred something inside me. "Oh, be quiet if you're gonna sound like Hermione! If she's so convinced we're troublemakers, I say we show her what we're like _really_ making trouble."

"Up top!" Sam said loudly, holding up her hand. I high-fived it. Nell sighed defeatedly, but she was grinning and high-fived both of us. "Nice! You guys give me fives back!" Sam grinned.

"Tonight, we could sneak down after everyone's asleep," I suggested.

Sam agreed right away, and eventually Nell nodded, looking worried. That's when we noticed April and Athena had transformed and were listening.

"We're coming too," April said.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, personally thinking that would be a bad idea.

"We're bored here," Athena whined.

"Oh, all right," I gave in, feeling bad for them.

We lay waiting in our beds until we were sure Lavender, Hermione, and Parvati were asleep. We grabbed our wands and bait as we slipped on our shoes. We snuck down the stairs and I peeked into the common room.

"No one's here, let's go!"

We crept down corridors and through various doors, and flew down staircases, the pictures on the walls mumbling irritably.

"It's Peeves!" Nell whispered. "Other way, other way!"

We ran as quietly as we could toward the Entrance Hall.

"Stop!" Sam whispered loudly.

It's a good thing we listened, because I would've stepped on Mrs. Norris.

"Oh no!" we whispered at the same time.

_"Alohomora!"_ I whispered, aiming my wand at the oak doors.

There was a click. The doors were unlocked. I seized them and we flew out. I was just beginning to see how stupid my idea was as Nell closed the doors quietly so they didn't slam. We ran down the front steps and down to the edge of the lake where we'd first arrived at the castle.

Nell made a noise that sounded somewhat like a whimper. "There's a huge squid in there..."

"Don't worry about it." I patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Nice spell," Sam complimented.

"Thanks," I smiled. "Heard Hermione practicing it the other night."

We pulled out our bait, which was some fish sticks, lobster, and clams we'd taken from the Great Hall. We were used to sneaking food from there by now so the twins could eat. We also brought some gummy worms we'd bought on our last day at the Leaky Cauldron on the muggle side for us to snack on.

"Here it goes!" Sam said excitedly, and she dropped the fish sticks into the water. Nothing happened. I got the bag of clams and poured them in. Still, nothing. Nell grabbed the lobster and dumped it into the lake.

"Nothing happened!" Nell sounded relieved. "Come on, let's go-"

But just then, there was a flash of light from behind us. Filch was standing in the flooding light of the caste in the middle of the doorway, holding Mrs. Norris and staring out into the night.

"Get down!" I whispered.

April and Athena had already turned back into dolls. As Sam crouched down, she accidently squeezed some of the gummy worms out of the bag (now under her hand) and they fell in the lake.

"Back away slowly, out of the light," I said, my lips barely moving.

Eventually, Filch decided he hadn't seen what he thought he had seen and closed the doors.

"Jeez, that was close."

We stared at the castle for a moment until we heard a splash from behind us and whipped around again. The gummy worms were gone and the water was rippling. Something was tugging on my clothes. The twins had transformed again.

"What was that?" Athena asked, her lip quivering.

On the other side of me, April had burst into tears. I picked her up. "Calm down! Don't worry! Do you know what that was?" I asked her. She shook her head. "A mermaid!" I told her just to reassure her, but it might have been something else. "Don't cry! That's what we came here to see, remember? You wanted to see it too!" I smiled.

Eventually, April stopped crying, which seemed to calm Athena down too, and she sat down in the grass and ate some more gummy worms from the bag.

After everything was finally calm, I noticed a strange feeling, like the water was calling to me. I had felt similar before when I was swimming in a pool or by the ocean, but now it felt so much stronger. The only thing that mattered right now was to get in the water...

My trance was broken by a scream. Nell had leaned forward, thinking she'd seen something in the water and fell in.

"Stop screaming!" Sam hissed. "It _can't_ be that cold! Stop! Filch or someone else will hear us!"

"HELP!" Nell screamed. "I can't swim - I CAN'T SWIM! I CA-" her head went under.

I put April down hurriedly and without thinking, jumped in.

I'd never swam like this before. I was swimming gracefully, easily, like a fish. As I swam deeper, the silence of the water surrounded me and called to me, drowning my body through its creamy calm.

I spotted Nell, unconscious, grabbed her, and kicked back up. I stayed in the water and Sam kneeled down to help me get Nell out.

And then it happened. One second I was skimming along like a fish and the next, my legs suddenly seized up. It felt like someone had glued my thighs together and strapped a splint on my shins! My legs turned to a block of stone. I couldn't feel my knees, my feet, my toes.

"What's happening?" Sam called.

I couldn't answer. I didn't know. A second later, I almost went under completely. I screamed, getting a mouthful of water.

"Not you, too!" Sam said and then jumped in.

She swam over to me.

"It's my legs!" I gasped. "I can't feel them!"

She grabbed me and pulled me out (I helped with my arms). As soon as I was halfway out, the weird feeling started to go away.

"It's probably just a cramp. Happens to everyone," Sam suggested. I decided not to mention it'd never happened to me before. "Can you lift your left leg?" I did. "And your right?" Easy. "Is there still pain?"

"It's gone now," I replied.

"Just a cramp, then," Sam said. "I used to get them all the time."

Nell coughed and a bunch of water came out of her mouth. The twins now looked terrified of the water.

Nell sat up. "That... was terrible! There's a shark in there!" she cried.

"Nell, calm down," I told her, glancing at April and Athena who were backing away from the water's edge slowly. "Come on, we should go."

Sam and I helped Nell to her feet, and we held the twins hands back up to the castle. I unlocked the door again and we hurried back up to the common room, with luck I guess, that no one spotted us or our long trail of water we left behind us.

"Pig snout," Sam said to the Fat Lady, and we quickly changed and went to bed without another word.

I lay in bed for a while, thinking. I don't know what had happened in that lake, but the truth was, I'd felt something the others hadn't seen, and I'd seen something they hadn't felt. I had no clue what it was, but I was positive I'd never set foot in the lake ever again.

I kept thinking of how it'd felt before everything went wrong. The silkiness of the water as I sliced through it, the silence pulling me, playing with me as though we shared a secret, its creamy warmth on my skin...

No matter how much I dreaded the idea of putting myself through that terror again, I would never be happy until I knew what had happened to me. Plus, something was pulling me back to the water. It was like I had no choice.

I blinked and saw me swimming gracefully in the lake again with my bathing suit on. I blinked again and I was starring at the red bed curtains once more.

I waited until I heard Nell muttering in her sleep and Sam's snores (along with Hermione, Parvati and Lavender's heavy breathing), and crept out of bed again. I searched through my trunk.

_"I guess there's plusses to over packing,"_ I thought as I silently pulled out my bathing suit and slipped it on.

I was freezing, so I put my cloak on over it. I snuck back down to the oak doors, unlocked them with the spell again, and ran back down to the lake. I threw off my cloak. The lake glinted coldly at me and I shivered in reply. Why was I doing this?

"Well, it's now or never," I muttered, and before I had time to think another thought, I pinched my nose.. and jumped.

At first I couldn't feel anything except the freezing cold water. I gasped for air as soon as I came up. I started kicking my legs, a bit frantically at first. But seconds later, the cold melted away and I suddenly wasn't feeling worried. In fact, it felt like a feeling of calm washed over me. I darted under the surface, cutting through the water as if I lived there.

And then, it happened again! I started to swim towards the lake's edge again, terrified. I gasped and waved my arms around widely and pointlessly. What had I done? My legs were joining together again, turning to stone. _"Just a cramp,"_ I thought repeatedly. And then, as quick as it started, it stopped.

Who cared if my legs were joined together? So what? It felt... right. As soon as I stopped worrying, my arms stopped flapping around and my head slipped easily below the surface. Suddenly, I was an eagle, an airplane, a dolphin - gliding through the water for the sheer pleasure of it.

And now, I had just discovered what was soon to be my biggest secret and I could tell no one: _I had become a mermaid. _


	12. A New Friend

A New Friend

**TADA! I have been waiting almost an entire year for that last chapter! So, yes, Liz is a mermaid. AHH! Sorry for the excitement rush! Anyways, there are still some questions she will have and she will need answers. But will she be able to get them from anyone, or will she have to wait and find out for herself? How long and how difficult will that be? WOW. That sounded like a book summary or something! Rofl! Well, anyways, my few devoted readers and reviewers, read and review away!**

_~~~~~L~~~~~~~_

So I had just discovered what was soon to be my biggest secret: I had become a mermaid. And right away I knew I couldn't tell anybody. So naturally, as soon as I got back to the dormitory, I would tell Sam and Nell everything.

As soon as I got back to the dormitory... I glanced down at my new orange swishing tail, its scales gleaming in the moonlight. Would I be able to get back ok? What if I couldn't transform back? I glanced back up. I had swam to the middle of the lake already without realizing it. I saw some rocks nearby... If I could just climb onto those and see what happened...

As I swam closer, I could hear a quiet, beautiful song being sung. It's beautiful noise was pulling me toward it, making me swim faster to the rocks. It was so beautiful, and it was wordless. I'd never heard anything like it before.

I pulled myself out of the water, having finally reached a big, smooth rock with a low shelf. The second I pulled myself out, my tail softened. Fascinated, I watched as the shiny scales melted away one by one. As my legs returned, they felt odd, like when your mouth goes numb after you've gotten a filling at the dentist. I wiggled my toes to get rid of the pins and needles in my feet.

Had I imagined the singing? It had stopped. I sat back against a larger rock, listening. The wet rocks shimmered in the moonlight, but there was no one around. Then the singing started again. Where was it coming from? I clambered up a jagged rock and looked down the other side. I rubbed my eyes. The singing was coming from another mermaid!

She had long, blond hair all the way down her back, which she was brushing as she sang. She was perched on the edge of a rock, shuffling a bit as though she were trying to get comfortable. Her tail was longer and thinner than mine, and hers was silvery, gleaming, and purple-and-green. It flapped against the rock as she sang.

She kept singing the same, wordless song. When she got to the end, she would eat another gummy worm. She must've been the one that took them after Sam dropped them in the lake.

I wanted to talk to her, ask her a bunch of questions that were bursting inside of me. How did this happen? Why? Had I always been one? Would I always be one? Could every person that jumped in this lake turn into a merperson? Was this a real mermaid who lived in the lake, or another Hogwarts student who could transform at the touch of the lake's water, like me? Could this mermaid get legs once out of the water, too? Her tail wasn't dissolving...

I wanted to ask her all these things, but I didn't know how to start. Eventually, however, I had a problem, and there was no control over it: I SNEEZED. Loudly.

The mermaid jumped and looked up immediately. "Oh!" she said, gaping open-mouthed at my legs for a second. And then with a twist and a splash, she was gone, leaving the left over gummy worms to fly up in the air widely and fall back into the lake with a tiny splash.

"Wait!" I called desperately, dashing back down the rocks to the water's edge. She couldn't leave yet! "Wait! I need to talk to you! Who are you?" I shouted as she swam away.

She turned in the water and looked back, suspicious. As she looked back, I jumped in. I started swimming towards her. I had a moment of panic when my legs stuck together and stiffened, but then they relaxed into their new shape, and I relaxed too as I swished my tail and sped through the water.

"Wait!" I said again. "Please!"

She stopped and turned around. I took my chance and dived under, making sure my tail flew up over the water, splashed it back down, raced underwater to the spot where I saw her tail flicking, and shot back up above the water. The mermaid was staring at me as though she couldn't believe what she'd seen. I smiled, but she ducked her head under the water.

"Hey! Come on! Don't go yet! I just sho-" but I stopped talking.

Her tail was sticking up, twisting around as if she were dancing or doing gymnastics, her tail glinting like diamonds. She came back up and I slipped back under as I tried to clap, getting water up my nose. She laughed and swam back to me.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hey," I coughed up water.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Eleven," I said as I caught my breath.

"Me too," she said, but looked sad. "Where do you go to school?"

"Right there," I pointed back at the castle, realizing that if I kept flickering my tail a little, I could stay above water.

"That's a school?" she asked, astonished.

"Yup!" I smiled.

"That doesn't look like a mermaid school." Now she looked worried.

"A mermaid school! You go to a mermaid school?"

"Well, yeah. What's wrong with it? Where _else_ would I go to school?"

"I didn't mean it like that, I mean, it sounds awesome!" I looked down at the black water. "Is it in this lake?"

The girl looked sad again, her dark blue eyes shining more now, possibly with tears. She turned around and started swimming slowly away. I wanted to call her back, to tell her I didn't mean to make her cry, but then I noticed she had went back over to the rocks and perched back on them again. I followed her back and sat down next to her.

She sighed. "I don't go to school here. I'm lost. I don't know where I am, but I've never been in waters like this before. It's full of scary creatures I've never seen or heard of. The mermaids here are unfriendly, and I think yesterday I saw a ghost." She sniffed. "I don't know where I am! The best thing that happened to me were these swishy foods." She held up a gummy worm.

"You're welcome," I smiled.

"That was you?" she asked, shocked.

"Well, me and... some friends. Where do you come from?" I asked gently.

"The ocean."

"Wha-? How? How did you get from the ocean to this lake?"

"I don't know!" her voice shook. "I was swimming along in an area I hadn't been in before, and suddenly, I was caught in a current. I passed out from shock and found myself here. I'M NEVER GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE!" she sobbed, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Don't worry," I told her, trying to calm her down. "If there's a way in, there's a way out." She looked up and gave me a watery smile. I smiled back. "I'll help you get out."

Then we both watched as the last of my scales disappeared. I wiggled my toes again. She was staring transfixed at my legs.

"I've never seen legs before," she whispered. "Can I, uh-" she held out her hand.

I laughed and nodded and she touched my shin, but jerked her hand away immediately.

"Holy ship hook," she whispered and I laughed again. "I've only read about legs. What's it like?"

"Having legs?" She nodded. "Well, um... You can walk, and run... Jump, skip, climb on things..."

She just stared at me, obviously having no clue what I was saying. I got up and walked to the other side of the rock. "Walk," I told her as I walked. "Jump." I jumped. "Skip," I skipped back to where I was before and ran back saying, "run."

But as I ran, I slipped on the wet rock and fell in the water. As I climbed back up to my original spot, she laughed and I told her when people run its usually without the slipping.

"You can't do this with legs," she said, and dove underwater again.

This time, her tail twisted around and around, faster and faster in an upside-down pirouette. Water spun off as she turned, spraying tiny rainbow arcs over the surface.

"That was wicked!" I clapped as she came back up.

"Wicked?" she asked, looking blank.

"Wicked. You know, like, cool..."

"You mean like swishy?"

"Yeah," I laughed. "That was really swishy! You definitely can't do that with legs!"

She beamed. "We learned that in school," she said, her smile now gone. "In Diving and Dance." She sighed. "Everyone back..." she drifted off, not wanting to say the word home. "In my school, they all think I'm a goody-goody. You probably think so too."

"What? No! You're... You're interesting." Maybe that wasn't the right word. "You're nice, cool - you're swishy!"

"Your pretty swishy too," she said as she floated backwards gracefully.

"I'm glad I came tonight." I smiled. Then I realized how long I'd been out. "But I have to get going soon."

She looked sad. "Are you going to come back some time soon?"

"Of course. I promised I'd help you."

"When? Saturday?"

"That'll work!"

"I can show you around, too! It'll be evil!"

"Evil?" I asked, confused.

"Sorry, I mean, uh... wicked."

I smiled again. "What's your name, anyway?"

"I'm Syrena Shelley. And you?"

"Elizabeth Mertonna."

Syrena stopped smiling. "Mertonna? _Really?_"

"Why?"

"Nothing - It's just-"

"What?"

"No, it's just... I thought I'd heard it before, but I guess I couldn't have. How'd you do that thing with your tail?" she asked, changing the subject. "How'd you make it change?"

"I don't know," I said, half disappointed. I was hoping she would know. "It just happened. When I go in the water, my legs sort of disappear." I looked at her and she looked back curiously. "Well, I should go now," I told her, smiling.

"Right," she smiled back. "See you Saturday!"

"You know it!" I called.

"Thank you," she said, and with a flick of her tail, she was gone.

As I swam back towards the castle, I thought of Professor McGonagall's reaction to my name and then Syrena's. What did this mean? Did people I had just met know more about me than I did?


End file.
